Pope to step down 28 February per Italian news and BBC

[ucrdem]

165. per France24:

Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, the archbishop of Paris, called Benedict XVI’s decision a “liberating act for the future,” saying popes from now on would no longer feel compelled to stay on until their death. “One could say that in a certain manner, Pope Benedict XVI broke a taboo,” he told reporters in Paris on Monday.

While Benedict XVI did not specify his reasons for resigning, he had already raised the possibility of resigning in 2010, when he said that “if a pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation, to resign.”

He is said to have urged his predecessor, Jean-Paul II, with whom he worked closely for nearly a quarter of a century, to resign after the late pontiff suffered increasingly dire heath but refused to give up his papacy.

“We mustn’t forget that Joseph Ratzinger [as he was known before] was very close to Jean-Paul II and was severely affected by [his ill health at] the end of his term, Radio France International religion correspondent Geneviève Delrue said on Monday. “Benedict XVI felt that his own health was declining and did not want to find himself in the same position,” she said.

http://www.france24.com/en/20130211-pope-resignation-papacy-life-end-catholic-church?autoplay=1

Sounds plausible. But then it could be other things AND health. Dunno.