Pope Benedict XVI, the faithful successor of the Holy Apostle Peter, completed his earthly path on December 31, 2022, in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery and went to the Lord.
During the funeral service in Rome on the vigil day of Epiphany, the official pontifical document was placed in the coffin of the deceased[1], which also contains the Declaratio of February 2013. As this is of great importance for the Church, it should be the subject of closer examination here, especially as it requires particular attention and a precise analysis due to its Latin version.
At the Consistory of Cardinals on February 11, 2013, the Pontiff read out his Declaratio to the surprise of the assembled purple bearers. According to his own statement, he had written the text of the announcement “no more than a fortnight before”[2]. As the language used is highly relevant in any statement, he later gave the reason for his choice: “‘Because such an important thing must be done in Latinʼ. He was also worried about making mistakes in another language.”[3]
In his statement to the cardinals, Pope Benedict explained that, after having examined his conscience several times, he had come to the certain conclusion that, due to the advanced age, his strenghts were no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine office (ad munus Petrinum aeque administrandum).
He then used the legally decisive term munus only once more, namely in his immediately following reflection on the individual areas of this office. Because of its spiritual nature, it should not only be fulfilled through deeds and words (agendo et loquendo). It should be done no less (non minus) through suffering and prayer (patiendo et orando) – thus classifying this dimension as essential for the fulfillment of the munus Petrinum.
The Pontiff referred to this important clarification in a conversation with Peter Seewald, when he explained his step in more detail: “It is another way of remaining united to the suffering Lord, in the stillness of silence, in the greatness and intensity of prayer for the whole Church. In this respect, the step is not an escape, but rather a different way of remaining faithful to my ministry.”[4] Benedict XVI clearly summed up the quintessence of this statement when he pointed out: “The following of Peter is not only connected with a function, but it leads right into being.”[5]
In the Declaratio any reference to the decisive passage in canon law is omitted, which in can. 332 § 2 CIC states the necessary conditions for a possible resignation of office by a pope. It states that it is required for validity that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested (Si contingat ut Romanus Pontifex muneri suo renuntiet, ad validitatem requiritur ut renuntiatio libere fiat et rite manifestetur).
Moreover, the term munus no longer appears at all in the further course of the declaration. Instead, another word comes into focus: ministerium, which in its original sense means service.
The Pontiff said that both strength of mind and body, necessary to govern (gubernandam) the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim (annuntiandum) the Gospel, had deteriorated in him to the extent that he had to recognize his incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry (service) entrusted to him (ut incapacitatem meam ad ministerium mihi commissum bene administrandum agnoscere debeam).
This is where the important clarification that matters emerges: In the context, ministerium is understood to mean the active exercise of the munus. This corresponds to agendo et loquendo at the beginning, which is taken up again at this point with gubernandam et annuntiandum.
Against the background of this classification, the Declaratio comes to its central statement.
Aware of the burden of this act, Pope Benedict XVI declared with full freedom to renounce the ministry of the Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, which had been entrusted to him by the hand of the Cardinals on April 19, 2005 (plena libertate declaro me ministerio Episcopi Romae, Successoris Sancti Petri, mihi per manus Cardinalium die 19 aprilis MMV commissum renuntiare).
It is immediately noticeable that this crucial sentence contains a serious grammatical lapse, precisely in the most important place, directly before renuntiare (renounce). The obvious congruence error commissum[6] – the dative case must be used here – draws attention to the corresponding word ministerio.
This is not the term munus from the corresponding can. 332 § 2 CIC, which lays down the necessary conditions for a valid renunciation of office.
Instead, the declaration here speaks explicitly only of the ministry of the Bishop of Rome. In view of Pope Benedict’s previous statements, the declaration of intention to renounce the ministerium does not appear to be identical with a possible resignation from office (munus), as defined by the above paragraph in the canon.
It is also noteworthy that the already unusual formulation plena libertate (with full freedom) refers to declaro, but not to renuntiare.
In the analysis, it must be noted that in a step of immense importance and historical significance, no reference at all was made to the relevant passage in canon law and the verba legalia used there were ostentatiously omitted. How easy it would have been for the intelligent professor, brilliant rhetorician and proven Latin expert to provide unmistakable clarity through precise legal terms – if he had wanted to.
Instead, he emphasized the significant error commissum when reciting the declaration without correcting it.[7] Is the grammatical lapse of the perfect Latinist at precisely the point on which everything depends in terms of content a linguistic pointer in the direction of legal ineffectiveness?
The Pontiff himself provided the authentic interpretation of the Declaratio at the last general audience on February 27, 2013. Looking back on his acceptance of the Petrine office on April 19, 2005, he emphasized that from then on he had always been claimed by the Lord and belonged entirely to the whole Church. In faithfulness to this vocation, he then clearly explained the intention of his move: “The ‘always’ is also a ‘for ever’ – there can no longer be a return to the private sphere. My decision to resign the active exercise of the office does not revoke this” (Ital.: Il “sempre” è anche un “per sempre” – non c’è più un ritornare nel privato. La mia decisione di rinunciare all’esercizio attivo del ministero, non revoca questo[8]).
He had taken this step with full awareness of its gravity and even its novelty, but with profound interior serenity (Ital.: Ho fatto questo passo nella piena consapevolezza della sua gravità e anche novità, ma con una profonda serenità d’animo[9]).
The novelty in question therefore apparently consists in the fact that Pope Benedict XVI has limited the professed renunciation to the active exercise of the munus.
Logically, this also brings to mind the introduction to the declaration, in which he had emphasized expressis verbis that the fulfilment of the Petrine office (munus Petrinum) is not only done through deeds and words (agendo et loquendo), but no less (non minus) through suffering and prayer (patiendo et orando).
In the light of this reflection, the rest of the Declaratio can be better understood. Here, one must pay close attention to the syntax in the Latin in order to recognize what was said – and what was not. The Pontiff declared that he would renounce the ministry (ministerio) of the Bishop of Rome in such a way that from February 28, 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, would remain vacant (ita ut a die 28 februarii MMXIII, hora 20, sedes Romae, sedes Sancti Petri vacet). In addition to the indication of a postponed date, the atypical expression sedes Romae appears first and only then the term sedes Sancti Petri, which is added in apposition and is not technical in terms of canon law. This subordinate clause with the consecutive conjunction ut, accompanied by ita, indicates the consequence of the renunciation of ministry and ends with vacet. The concluding thought on the Conclave, which has a different connection, clearly does not belong here. The construction following the et with the accusativus cum infinitivo refers to the remotedeclaro: Pope Benedict XVI also declared that a Conclave for the election of a new Pontiff will have to be convokedby those whose competence it is (et Conclave ad eligendum novum Summum Pontificem ab his quibus competit convocandum esse). A remarkable statement.
Here, too, there is no reference to the corresponding Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici gregis, which sets out the binding procedure in the event of a vacancy following a valid resignation of office: “I decree that the dispositions concerning everything that precedes the election of the Roman Pontiff and the carrying out of the election itself must be observed in full, even if the vacancy of the Apostolic See should occur as a result of the resignation of the Supreme Pontiff, in accordance with the provisions of Canon 332 § 2 of the Code of Canon Law[…]” (Quae de actis electionem praecedentibus et de ipsa Romani Pontificis electione hactenus dicta sunt, ea omnia servanda esse declaramus, etiam si contingat vacationem Sedis Apostolicae per renuntiationem Summi Pontificis occurrere, secundum can. 332 § 2 Codicis Iuris Canonici)[10].
The Vatican publication gave the Declaratio, which was to go down in history, an unmistakable and meaningful imprint. In Bollettino N. 0089 – 11.02.2013, the document was published with blatantly empty formulas for quite some time. The Pontiff’s introductory remark that a decision of great importance for the life of the Church was to be communicated appeared with the Latin misspelling pro Ecclesiae vitae. Here, the preposition pro would necessarily have required the ablative vita. In addition, the exact time from which the See of Rome would remain vacant on February 28, 2013 was given as 29:00 hours (hora 29).[11] Pope Benedict did not read out this double written nonsense at the consistory. This made the lapsus commissum, which was also anchored in the document and not corrected, all the more significant at the all-important point mentioned above.
Throughout the entire period after the evening of February 28, 2013, from exactly 20:00 (or 29:00) hours, the Pontiff continued to make much-noticed signs and gestures. It was expressly his own decision to wear the white soutane at all times.[12] Vatican spokesman Lombardi reported that he could also be addressed as Your Holiness.[13] He also repeatedly gave the Apostolic Blessing. In letters, for example, formulations such as Con la mia Benedizione Apostolica Suo nel Signore are attested.[14] The customary signing of his papal name completed this framework.
His last words before his passing thus act as a hermeneutical key to the Declaratio. They refer to the passage in the Gospel of John, where the risen Lord entrusts Simon with the feeding of His lambs and sheep with divine authority (cf. John 21:15-19). With Peter’s confession, in whose “narrower sphere” Pope Benedict XVI wanted to remain, according to his own admission[15], he also gave the response of love in the face of Christ’s commission, which made him faithful unto death. “Always and for ever” he allowed himself to be claimed by the Lord, who then called him to climb the mountain. If God had asked this of him, it was precisely so that he could continue to serve the Church with the same dedication and the same love as before.[16] Far from having abandoned the cross, the Katechon remained with the Crucified in a new way and testified to his devotion with the words of Peter: “Signore, ti amo!”[17]
In Conceptione Immaculata Beatæ Mariæ Virginis 2024
Father Frank Unterhalt
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[1] Cf. Vatican News, “Wortlaut: Offizielle Urkunde für Benedikt XVI” [Literally: Official certificate for Benedict XVI], January 5, 2023.
[2] Pope Benedict XVI, Letzte Gespräche mit Peter Seewald [Last Conversations with Peter Seewald], München 2016, p. 41.
[3] Peter Seewald, Benedikt XVI. Ein Leben [Benedict XVI. A life],München 2020, p. 1034.
[4] Pope Benedict XVI, Letzte Gespräche mit Peter Seewald [Last Conversations with Peter Seewald], p. 60.
[5] Ibid, p. 43.
[6] Pope Benedict XVI, Ich habe mich nie allein gefühlt [I have never felt alone], Illertissen 2013, p. 10.
[7] Cf. Pope Benedict XVI, Declaratio, February 11, 2013, in: YouTube, “L’annuncio di Benedetto XVI. L’apertura del Tg2000 dell’11 febbraio 2013” [Benedict XVI’s announcement. top news item on the Tg2000 television channel on February 11, 2013], 1:10 min, youtube.com/watch?v=BciuuNvOfj4 ; retrieved on July 10, 2023.
[8] Pope Benedict XVI, Udienza Generale, February 27, 2013.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Pope John Paul II, Constitutio Apostolica Universi Dominici gregis (February 22, 1996), 77.
[11] Cf. Berthold Seewald, “Papst-Rede: Benedikt XVI. und die Tücken des Latein im Vatikan” [Pope’s speech: Benedict XVI and the pitfalls of Latin in the Vatican], in: Welt.de, February 14, 2013; cf. Corriere della Sera, “Un accusativo al posto del dativo Canfora «bacchetta» il testo di Ratzinger” [An accusative in place of the dative Canfora ‘berates’ Ratzinger’s text], February 12, 2013, in: corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it/bari/notizie/cronaca/2013/12-febbraio-2013/accusativo-posto-dativocanfora-bacchetta-testo-ratzinger-2113963174383.shtml ; retrieved on August 2, 2023.
[12] Cf. Zeit Online, “Papst-Anrede: Benedikts neuer Name steht fest” [Adressing the Pope: Benedict’s new name has been decided], February 26, 2013.
[13] Cf. Tilmann Kleinjung, “Seine Heiligkeit bleibt Seine Heiligkeit” [His Holiness remains His Holiness], in: Tagesschau.de, February 26, 2013.
[14] Fra Giovanni Spagnolo, “Ricordando Benedetto XVI…” [Remembering Benedict XVI…], in: Conferenza Italiana Ministri Provinciali Cappuccini, in: http://www.fraticappuccini.it/new_site/index.php/eventi-di-rilievo/3985-ricordando-benedetto-xvi.html ; retrieved on August 2, 2023.
[15] Cf. Pope Benedict XVI, Udienza Generale.
[16] Cf. Pope Benedict XVI, Last Angelus on February 24, 2013.
[17] L’Osservatore Romano, “Ein Schatz, der bleibt” [A treasure that stays], January 13, 2023.