Ex-pope Benedict Says "God Told me" to Resign

And by God’s grace he remains to observe his handiwork and act as a witness to the mystical stream of consciousness.  This is a remarkable statement from a spiritual leader who brought the fullness of his intellect to the battle for sustaining Christianity.  He accepted guidance from what was clear to him, Godhead.  Perhaps there is no better idea.

I have also posted in the past of my own curious experience with such guidance and found it always thought provoking.  Again our challenge is to discover the problem and then accept guidance as best we can.  He accepted the revolutionary though that he might simply retire. 

He is also right.  Pope Francis is reshaping the church clearly for the better and it remains to be seen what the result will ultimately be although we are seeing sniffs of it.  it is also reassuring that he is pleased.

Ex-pope Benedict says "God told me" to resign-report

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/ex-pope-benedict-says-god-told-resign-report-104959018.html

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Former Pope Benedict has said he resigned after "God told me to" during what he called a "mystical experience", a Catholic news agency reported.

Benedict, whose formal title is now Pope Emeritus, announced his shock resignation on February 11 and on February 28 became the first pontiff to step down in 600 years.

"God told me to do it," the Zenith agency quoted Benedict as saying to a visitor to the convent in the Vatican gardens where he is living out his retirement in near isolation.

According to the agency, Benedict told his visitor, who asked to remain anonymous, that God did not speak to him in a vision but in what the former pope called "a mystical experience".

According to Italian media, Benedict's decision to step down was influenced by the various scandals that blighted his eight-year papacy, including the arrest of his personal butler for leaking private documents alleging corruption in the Vatican.

He was succeeded by Pope Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, who was elected as the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years.

According to the Rome-based Zenith, Benedict told his visitor that the more he observes the way Francis carries out his papal duties, the more he realized the choice was "wanted by God".

Last Sunday, Benedict spent a day at the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, to escape the heat of the capital.

The visit indicated that the 86-year-old ex pope's health was good enough for him to travel. There had been media reports that since his resignation, Benedict's health had deteriorated dramatically.