Cardinal Szoka reacts to Pope Benedicts resignation

Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka served as Archbishop of Detroit from 1980 until 1990, and later oversaw the governance of the Vatican City State. He was among the cardinals who participated in the conclave that selected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to become the next pope in 2005. He issued the following remarks on Pope Benedict XVI’s announced resignation:

Every pope has his own character, his own personality, and brings his own experience. Pope Benedict is primarily a scholar. He was a professor for many years, and you could see in all his talks his scholarly background and background as a professor. Pope Benedict XVI has brought to the papacy a certain intellectual level, and a very theological level. He has left us a storehouse of theological reflections, in expressing the beliefs of our faith in a theological setting, from which we all have learned.

The main obligation for the faithful right now is to pray, to pray for Pope Benedict XVI that the Lord will give him more years of quiet life, and that the cardinals will select a worthy successor to him.

Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka Archbishop Emeritus of Detroit11 February 2013