The year was 1417. The Roman Catholic Church was facing a civil war known as the Great Western Schism, during which several factions anointed their own popes—dubbed “antipopes” by church leaders.
The schism lasted four decades. An attempt in 1409 to end the turmoil was made by a council of cardinals in Pisa, Italy. Instead of bringing peace, they elected a third pope.
This is when Pope Gregory XII became the last pope in the history of the Holy Roman Empire to resign from the Holy Seat.
Six hundred years later, on Feb. 28, Pope Benedict XVI became the most recent man to do so.
Benedict’s resignation has thrown the Catholic Church into turmoil as it finds itself suddenly without a leader and approaches one of its most holy times: Easter.
Tradition dictates the conclave—the time-honored ritual during which cardinals lock themselves in the Sistine Chapel until a new pope is elected by a majority vote —cannot start until March 15. There is some speculation to whether or not that date can be moved so Catholics around the world will have a pontiff by Easter Sunday.
Some view this as an opportunity for the church to modernize and grow with the times. A study released by the Pew Research Center revealed that 46 percent of Catholics believe the new pope should move the church in new directions, with 58 percent in favor of the new pope breaking tradition and allowing priests to marry.
The allure of a new, modern pope is quickly being overshadowed by controversy, however, as debate increases regarding who will be allowed to attend conclave. During a time when the Catholic Church has been rocked by scandal and cases of sexual abuse of children spring up in diocese around the world, the public has begun railing against certain cardinals from participating in the election.
The cardinal that is facing the biggest outcry not to attend, however, is Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles. Mahony was stripped of his public and administrative duties after a Los Angeles court forced him to turn in files revealing his involvement in the cover-up of child sex abuse cases against more than
120 priests.
Despite the controversy, Mahony is determined to participate in conclave, and said he is
being “scapegoated” and unfairly
disgraced.
The Vatican claims the media is contributing to the swirl of scandal surrounding the pope’s resignation. Italian newspapers have reported that the real reason Benedict XVI is retiring is because an impending sex and blackmail scandal was about to break. The newspapers gave no attribution to these claims and the Vatican has not responded.
Despite the political upheaval surrounding his abdication, 100,000 people flooded St. Peter’s Square Sunday morning to attend Pope Benedict XVI’s final Sunday prayer and blessing.
