Church in the World

Pope will not stand down

Rome

An Italian newspaper has published a front-page report asserting that the Pope has no intention of retiring. The journalist concerned, Vittorio Messori, who collaborated with the Pope in the 1994 book Crossing the Threshold of Hope, reported in the Milan-based Corriere della Sera on 29 June that sources which could be trusted ?beyond any possible denial? had told him the Pope had made the firm decision not to stand down.

Messori quotes in the article what he affirms are the Pope?s thoughts on the subject of retirement ?The force to continue is not my problem but that of Christ, who wanted to call me, though unworthy, to be his vicar on earth. In his mysterious design, he has brought me here. And it will be he who decides my fate.?

Fr Ciro Benedettini, assistant director of the Vatican Press Office, said the Vatican had no specific comment on the Corriere report but noted that the information was not particularly new. The Pope has said on various occasions, Fr Benedettini recalled, that it was for God to decide when his work was finished,

During Mass in St Peter?s for the celebration of the feast of SS Peter and Paul, the Pope made remarks which seemed to confirm Messori?s view. Referring to Peter?s liberation from prison by an angel, the Pope said ?God?s help arrived to his apostle so that he could continue in his mission, a mission that was not easy, that implied a difficult and fatiguing journey.? The Pope added that ?whoever confides in God experiences the consoling presence of the Spirit, especially in moments of trial and suffering?.

Cardinal Andrzej Maria Deskur, a close friend of the Pope, told La Repubblica that the Pope ?will never abandon the Church? and declared that his homily on Saturday had in effect answered all who speculated on his resignation.

John Paul II took the opportunity during the Angelus on 30 June to thank people for their prayers. He told them from the window of his study that their petitions and sacrifices were a ?real help and an intimate comfort? in the ?moments of great difficulty?. |snip!|Vatican backs convention against torture. The Vatican has officially endorsed a UN convention against torture and other cruel punishment. On 26 June, Archbishop Renato Martino, the Vatican?s UN permanent observer, delivered the document of adherence signed by Pope John Paul II to the UN Office of Legal Affairs in New York.

A declaration presented at the same time said that the Vatican considers the UN convention ?a valid and ideal tool for the fight against acts that constitute a grave attack on the dignity of the human person?.

The UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1984 and came into force in 1987. It holds that ?no exceptional circumstances whatever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture?.