ROME (Reuters)
- The Vatican Thursday sought to quash speculation by a leading
Roman Catholic cardinal that Pope John Paul may retire after the
end of this year.
The Vatican
issued a terse statement in response to reports based on a newly-published
book by Brussels Cardinal Godfried Danneels who was quoted as
saying he would not be surprised if the Pope opted to retire next
year.
``This is
a personal opinion of Cardinal Danneels which finds no confirmation
(in the Vatican),'' chief Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls
said.
Cardinal Danneels,
who is considered a possible successor to the current Pope, is
scheduled to hold a news conference about his book Monday.
In comments
set to reignite debate over whether the 80-year-old pontiff should
retire, Danneels said it was inevitable that popes would have
to retire at a certain age.
Asked during
interviews about his book published Thursday whether a retirement
age of 75 for bishops should also apply to pontiffs, Danneels
replied:
``The question
will inevitably be posed in the same form to popes. And it would
not surprise me if the Pope were to retire after 2000. He wanted
at all cost to reach the jubilee year 2000, but I consider him
capable of retiring afterwards.''
On the inevitability
of a retirement age for popes, he said: ``In the future, I think,
it will have to be like this. One won't be able to do otherwise.''
Last January,
German bishop Karl Lehmann caused a storm when he aired the idea
that the Pope might one day retire if he felt he could no longer
do his job properly.
Popes usually
remain in their post for life. The last pope to resign willingly
was Celestine V, who stepped down in 1294. Gregory XII reluctantly
abdicated in 1415 in order to resolve a dispute when there was
more than one pope sitting at the same time.
Speculation
that John Paul, who began the 23rd year of his pontificate earlier
this week, could become the first pontiff in centuries to retire
willingly has surfaced regularly as his health has failed.
There has
also been speculation that he could choose to retire as early
as 2001 because he believes he was divinely entrusted at the time
of his election in 1978 to lead his church of one billion members
into the new millennium.
According
to Canon 332 of Church Law, a pope can resign but he has to do
it freely and, since he is Supreme Pontiff, no one has to accept
the resignation.
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