By Anne Marie Amacher
DAVENPORT — Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to resign at the end of this month prompted Assumption High School religion teacher Chris Young and his students to reflect on the ramifications of that decision.
“My initial thoughts about the resignation are that it is a sign both of the Holy Father’s great humility to lay aside the prestige of his powerful office and of his keen desire for the Church to continue to be strongly led,” Young said. A former Episcopalian priest now seeking ordination as a Roman Catholic priest, Young noted: “Also, being someone who currently has a petition in Rome awaiting the pope’s signature, this unforeseen indeterminacy affects me personally, and so I reacted to the news with mixed regret.
“I pray that the College of Cardinals would choose a holy man, a wise man, a man who treasures the Church’s tradition, but who can speak with eloquent clarity to an often noise-filled and increasingly hostile world that has largely forgotten God, leveraging the local churches, in propagating the Gospel, with transformative servant-leadership.”
To read the rest of this article, subscribe to The Catholic Messenger’s e-edition.
