Benedict, then 85, said he had “repeatedly examined my conscience before God” and concluded that the modern world, “subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith,” required a pope in better physical and intellectual condition. “My strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited” to the papacy, he said.
His papacy was facing multiple crises at the time. Documents leaked by his former butler exposed internal chaos, allegations of corruption and wrongdoing at the highest levels of the Catholic Church. The Vatican bank faced mounting criticism over its opaque operations, leading foreign financial institutions to temporarily suspend credit transactions in the world’s smallest state. And above all else were the ongoing revelations of rampant sexual abuse by Catholic priests and decades-long efforts by the church hierarchy to cover it up. Then-Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the pope made his decision to resign “aware of the great problems the church faces today,” but Lombardi insisted that the pope’s decision was personal and not because of “difficulties in the papacy.”
