I was astounded when I heard that Pope Benedict XVI decided to resign. His retirement surprised not only the secular world, but also the clergy. Nobody expected it. The popular German statement “We are pope,” has now turned into “We are not pope anymore.”

The Pope explained that because of his age he does not feel capable of fulfilling his duties as the head of the Roman Catholic Church. 

I always felt that Benedict gave the impression of an honest churchman in whom a Christian believer, or an atheist, could trust. He tried hard to represent Christian values because he was convinced of their truth. 

However, to me, his resignation looked like he realized that he was the only one in Vatican City who believed in those values anymore. 

Different voices have given different reasons about why Benedict resigned. It seems likely that he might have been overwhelmed by the huge membership loss in the last few years, and that he did not have a solution about how to keep all the believers in the church.

Other reasons that might have influenced him could have been the scandals that occurred in the last years inside of the church. When I heard about the child molestation by priests and about the most recent “Vatileaks” scandal that revealed secret documents about corruption within the Vatican, I knew that Benedict never could have supported these things. 

Therefore, it is more than understandable that he backed out of this secretive society. 

I can say from a German viewpoint that he was responsible for giving the Germans a feeling of pride and patriotism because of his German heritage. His birthplace is a small village in Bavaria, in the south of Germany, and believers from all over the world are attracted to it. 

Even though I highly respect Benedict’s position and him as a person, I have to say that I cannot identify myself with his views. Since he does not advocate contraception or the abolition of celibacy, I can only find his views outdated and no longer needed.

His retirement is a new chance for the Catholic Church, and I hope for a successor who is a non-European from a third world country. A representative from the poorer part of the world would bring fresh air into the Vatican. However, this is not probable since the Cardinals are mainly conservative, European, and especially Italian. 

As a German I do not consider his retirement as a weakness, but consider it as a strong and powerful step in Catholic history. I think that Benedict also wants to send a message and bring the Catholic society back to its original moral values and away from its ever-growing moral crises.