Pope Benedict XVI has earned himself a place in the history of the Catholic Church by announcing his resignation from the Holy See. He thus showed exceptional courage through a step seen for the first time in six centuries, by announcing - while in his right mind - that he could no longer carry on with the tasks required of him by his post which was chosen for him for life due to his old age, knowing he is 85 years old. The Pope resigned despite the authority and status provided to him by his position. Nonetheless, this personal courage features a paradox, duplicity and a certain extent of malice, as it is known that the papal conclave which convenes to choose the new Pope prevents its members who are over 80 years old from participating in the selection. Indeed, it considers that at this age, a person might lose his right judgment when electing the Supreme Pontiff. So will Benedict XVI's courageous step push his successors to apply what they are asking the papal conclave to do, and relinquish their post once they are 80? In this case, this personal courage would draw all its historical meaning, allowing the head of the Church to maintain his dignity as a human being who has reached an advanced age and to continue enjoying his full capabilities to handle the tasks at hand, knowing they are numerous, branched out and exhausting. On the other hand, Joseph Ratzinger's conservative theological character left an impact on his papal term. Indeed, he was unable to rise above the fact that he is a theologian known for his Catholic rigor, and act as a leader in a multi-religious and diverse world, witnessing ongoing change at the level of relations, principles, choices and values. His statement regarding Islam and violence was not swiftly erased by the justifications that were voiced to explain it and by the confirmation of the respect of the other doctrines. It was issued in the context of a theological and not a historical understanding of the relationship between Catholicism and Islam, which is why – despite the Vatican attempts – Christian-Islamic dialogue failed to dissipate this conservative stand towards other religions. And while Pope Benedict XVI tried to find a formula that would end the mutual misunderstanding with the Jews and undertook symbolic steps in this direction, the relations between the two sides remained troubled. Still, the most conservative facet of the outgoing Pope's position affected the social issues and the values on which he insisted in handling mounting problems in countries with a Catholic majority, especially in Africa and Latin America. At the head of these positions is probably the one related to birth control in countries suffering poverty and an increasing population count in the face of an ongoing decrease of the resources. In addition, his positions towards women's ordination as bishops and homosexuality, especially in Europe, constituted a major retreat from social values which have become constant in these societies. Moreover, Benedict provoked shock, even inside the Catholic Church, with his openness towards the fundamentalist Catholic current whose reading of history and human relations goes in line with the most extreme wings of the European rightist parties. Benedict XVI went through the worst two crises which swept his Church and the Vatican. The first was the scandal implicating Catholic clerics who raped minors within their communities, especially in Europe and North America. And while these acts were committed in the past and the Pope tried to issue retroactive sanctions against their perpetrators, this was not reflected in a new reading into the phenomenon and in attempts to find ways to prevent their repetition. The Pope rather insisted on the more conservative reading into the meaning of priestly life. The second crisis was the betrayal of his personal secretary who leaked Vatican documents exposing the ambiguity, mystery, conflicts over power and the abuse of positions within the Holy See. The secretary was sentenced to prison, but the Pope did not undertake any action to contain what was revealed in the documents. This kept the Vatican, which enjoys the character of a state, the most mysterious around the world in terms of its management. Pope Benedict showed courage by presenting his resignation, but this courage betrayed him when it was required to ensure renewal within his Church and render it part of the modern world.
