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In
1294,
Pope Celestine V promulgated a
canon law explicitly establishing the right to resign the office of
Pope, and did so himself after being in office only about five months. Before his election, he had lived as a hermit, and afterwards considered himself unworthy to fulfill the duties of the papacy. He lived some two years after his abdication. See also
abdication.
Before Pope Celestine V, there were a few cases of abdication, although the details remain somewhat cloudy for the first two. Some scholars have suggested that
Pope Marcellinus abdicated in
308 and
Pope Liberius in
366, however the details are uncertain. There are, however, several cases of certain abdication.
Pope Benedict IX, who was accused of causing scandal by his disorderly life, abdicated in
1044 to join a monastery.
Pope Gregory VI abdicated in
1046 in answer to (probably unfounded) charges of
simony.
The last pope to abdicate was
Pope Gregory XII in
1415. This was done to end the
Western Schism. At the time, there were three claimants to the papal throne, Roman Pope Gregory XII,
Avignon Pope Benedict XIII, and
John XXIII, successor of the election at the Council of
Pisa. A council had convened at
Constance to end the schism. Pope Gregory XII, the legitimate pope, sent legates to the council to (1) formally convoke the council, so that it would be a valid
Ecumenical council, and (2) present his resignation of the office to allow the free election of a successor.
Pope John Paul II threatened to resign during a period of
martial law in his native
Poland in order to lead the political opposition against the
Communists' suppression of religious and other rights.
Many have suggested that John Paul II will abdicate due to his failing health, but the pope has indicated that he does not consider this to be a possibility.
Abdication is considered dangerous as it leaves open the possibility that those who dislike the new Pope will claim that there was a conspiracy to oust the old one and that the new Pope is an
Antipope.
==External link==
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Catholic Encyclopedia article
