Massimo: The conclave of 2005 was in some sense the rehearsal of what happened 80 years later when Pope Francis was elected. Those who elected him in April 2005 were looking for someone not going to give them surprises, he says. Massimo: They surely did not expect a pope to resign because John Paul II had made very clear that in his opinion, the papacy cannot be resigned. And so they were looking for for something that in the end they didn't get as it was a very event for pontificate.
As the world ushered in a new year on the 31st of December 2022, it also said goodbye to possibly its most well-known religious leader, Pope Benedict XVI. As a cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger’s uncompromising conservative views earned him the nickname "God's Rottweiler". As Pope, his work was often perceived as a continuation of the conservative agenda of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. On this episode of The Sunday Debate we’re discussing the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI, asking whether his most radical act was retiring in 2013, and how his influence was received by the world's 1.3 billion Catholics. To discuss these issues, our host Philippa Thomas is joined by Massimo Faggioli, Professor of Theology at Villanova University Pennsylvania, and Mathew Walther, writer and editor of Catholic literary journal, The Lamp.
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