With Pope Benedict XVI's announced resignation still hot off the press, conspiracy theories have started creeping in! He announced that he was stepping down from the papacy citing "advanced age" and "strength of mind and body" that had "deteriorated." Some have simply accepted that the pope’s health has markedly decreased pointing out less foreign travel and having limited his audiences as he is suffering from a joint degenerative joint disease. Some believe though that he is resigning to head off a scandal that is about to rock the Catholic Church. Below are the crazier and bigger ones so far— if we were to believe conspiracy theorists:
Pope Benedict has acknowledged the time in his German childhood when he was forced to join the Hitler Youth, calling it a "dark time" in his past. But less than two years after that admission, the non-believers are still raising eyebrows. The Nazi theory comes as Pope Pius XII, long believed to be a Nazi sympathizer, may be getting his own history rewritten.
Forced resignation due to increasing internal Church dissent with the faith’s strict dogma?
The internet is now awash with theories that he may have been forced by insiders to resign.The Pope has proved himself to be strongly against the ordination of women as priests, euthanasia, abortion and the use of artificial birth control. He has insisted on Catholic orthodoxy as a cerebral disciplinarian who was unafraid to crack down on liberals and dissidents within the church. One could possibly wonder if the Church has decided that it may be time to open the corridors to retain their following in the face of increasing dissent with some of the faith’s strict dogma.
A Sex Scandal Connection?
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| Archdiocese of Munich and Freising |
Benedict's tenure as pope has been punctuated by ex-abuse scandals across the Church. He and his subordinates have been faced with repairing the Church's image- more so
as there's even a personal connection that's been hanging over him in relation to this issue. In 2010, a German archdiocese had "said that a priest accused of molesting boys was given therapy in 1980 and later allowed to resume pastoral duties, before committing further abuses and being prosecuted. Pope Benedict, who at the time headed the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, approved the priest’s transfer for therapy reported" The New York Times's Nicholas Kulish and Rachel Donadio. HBO's Mea Maxima Culpa, a documentary exploring the culpability of Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church in the brewing scandal.
The Prophecy?
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| "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End." |
The last time a pope quit was almost 600 years ago. Gregory XII "left the papacy in 1415 to end what was known as the Western Schism among several competitors for the papacy," report The New York Times's Elisabetta Povoledo and Alan Cowell. The theory here is that if Benedict is retiring now, then it must mean there's something as big as that dividing the Church right now.
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