Benoît XVI : un pontificat contrasté

Lorsque Célestin V, après quelques mois de pontificat, abdique le 13 décembre 1294 devant les cardinaux, ceux-ci ne s'en étonnent guère : le pape, ancien ermite, avait largement démontré qu'il n'était nullement préparé à la charge d'évêque de Rome. En élisant Benoît XVI, ils pensaient couronner un parcours exemplaire. Lorsque celui-ci renonce à son tour à sa charge, le 11 février 2013, en pleine liberté et pour le bien de l'Église, il provoque stupeur et étonnement... Compréhension aussi, car Benoît XVI justifie cette renonciation par l'amoindrissement de sa vigueur et par son incapacité à assumer au mieux le ministère qui lui a été confié. Dans sa dernière audience, il ne cache pas que la barque de l'Église a dû faire face à des " eaux agitées " et à des " vents contraires ". Paul Christophe examine les réussites et les échecs de ce pontificat, tout en relevant la complexité d'un homme conscient des réformes à entreprendre mais trop âgé pour les accompagner. La renonciation à sa charge est le geste raisonnable et prophétique d'un homme de foi qui ouvre l'avenir. -- On December 13, 1294, after only a few months as pope, Celestine V informed his cardinals of his decision to abdicate. They were scarcely surprised, since the pope - a former hermit - had amply demonstrated that he was totally unsuited to be the Bishop of Rome. When they elected Benedict XVI, it was seen as the crowning of an exemplary career. So when he also renounced his position, on February 11, 2013 - of his own free will and for the good of the Church - the reaction was one of stupor and astonishment... But also understanding, because Benedict XVI justified this renunciation by citing his diminishing strength and his inability to assume the ministry to which he had been entrusted to the maximum. In his final audience, he did not conceal the fact that the barque of the Church had been rocked by 'rough seas' and 'headwinds'. Paul Christophe examines the successes and failures of this pontificate, as well as the complexity of a man who was conscious of the reforms that needed to be undertaken, yet too aged to carry them out. The renunciation of his post was the intelligent and prophetic act of a man of faith concerned with the future.