Does this mean he can now be prosecuted in the US?

I always thought that being Pope was for life, not just for Christmas.

Maybe he was too stupid even for the RC's, losing a few thousand a week is never good for business.

Hold on, that's not in the Guardian. I simply don't believe it.

I feel your version is just a tad too polite.

If we really do have to have popes, dear god send us a better one than this w/nker.

Yeah even though she forgot to put a cap S on Schieben. And "job" is just another awful word creeping into the german vocabulary.

The problem with all these Popes is that they're all careerists. Most of them haven't had a job outside the Catholic church.

No wonder most Catholics feel disenfranchised and probably won't even bother to turn up to vote for the next Pope. Show me a Pope who's had a career before entering the priesthood and I'll be first in line to vote at the Sistine Chapel.

But no I suspect the next Pope will be yet another member of the elitist and out of touch liberal intelligentsia that the inner circle of the Vatican has become nowadays.

Well they are in sensitive mode, it seems. The [iTelegraph[/i is usually pretty good about a very light-touch moderation, but they've removed vast swathes of comments over night – strangely, these seem to be ones that were critical of the Pope and/or Catholic church. And I don't mean abusively so.

Nothing, it seems, must be allowed to get in the way of the Catholic-opwned [iTelegraph[/i's fawning.

Couldn't he just have said that God told him to resign during their daily chats? Anyone who argued could be denounced as a heretic.

Does he still get his productivity bonus?

Who owns the guardian these days? Or who runs the Guardian media Group these days? I've been out of the loop for many a year now....


besides I used to read the indy.

The Scott Trust still owns the group.


Owned by Alexander Lebedev these days.

And the [iTelegraph[/i group is owned by the Barclay brothers, who are, apparently, quite traditional Catholics.

I wonder if the next Pope will ordain women priests ? Oh silly me they'd never do that would they as they really are sexist, out of touch old dinosaurs.

What I'd like to know is whether Ratzinger will cease to be infallible at the instant of his retirement, whether his infallibility will wear off gradually over a period of several weeks, or whether he gets to keep it as a retirement gift. I think we deserve to know.

He'll be infallible just like the rest of us are. Now he's quitting the Papacy he can be Father Christmas this year to all the little kids in Rome........but don't sit on his knee

.

It would depend on whether you could stand the whole celibacy gig and not being able to have the occasional "J Arthur"

[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21421810Maybe there is a nasty, vengeful sky pixie, afterall?[/url

Well, it's obvious the boss is a bit narked.

A bit like when he set fire to York Minster after the Bishop of Durham had been ordained.

So, what can we deduce ...

a) He didn't like the Anglican Bishop of Durham being ordained
b) He didn't know the difference between Durham Cathedral and York Minster
c) He doesn't like the Catholic Pope resigning.
d) He does know where St Peter's is.

Classic dementia symptoms.
Mind you he is older than the universe, so only to be expected really, he's had a good run.

That'll be why he's so racist

Probably still dislikes the 6-tackles rule as well.

He said that Islam is an evil religion a few years back if I remember correctly. He'll not be welcome in Saudi Arabia then.

Aye, the pot won't be welcome in Kettleland.