Now the significance of Pope Benedict placing his pallium on the tomb of Pope Celestine is clear – Scott Hahn By Deacon Nick Donnelly, on February 11th, 2013 Scott Hahn has written in interesting observation about Pope Benedict’s pilgrimage to the tomb of Pope Celestine V, in 2009 and the relics of Pope Celestine in 2010, the last pope to abdicate in the 13th century ‘Back on April 29, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI did something rather striking, but which went largely unnoticed. He stopped off in Aquila, Italy, and visited the tomb of an obscure medieval Pope named St. Celestine V (1215-1296). After a brief prayer, he left his pallium, the symbol of his own episcopal authority as Bishop of Rome, on top of Celestine’s tomb! Fifteen months later, on July 4, 2010, Benedict went out of his way again, this time to visit and pray in the cathedral of Sulmona, near Rome, before the relics of this same saint, Celestine V. Few people, however, noticed at the time. Only now, we may be gaining a better understanding of what it meant. These actions were probably more than pious acts. More likely, they were profound and symbolic gestures of a very personal nature, which conveyed a message that a Pope can hardly deliver any other way. In the year 1294, this man (Fr. Pietro Angelerio), known by all as a devout and holy priest, was elected Pope, somewhat against his will, shortly before his 80th birthday (Ratzinger was 78 when he was elected Pope in 2005). Just five months later, after issuing a formal decree allowing popes to resign (or abdicate, like other rulers), Pope Celestine V exercised that right. And now Pope Benedict XVI has chosen to follow in the footsteps of this venerable model.’ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scott-Hahn/165171813503937 comments... yes Scott , I think it is significant. Pietro, known as celestine was a very holy hermit.I have actually been to his cave above Sulmona in Abbruzzo , and to his tomb , which contains his displayed body in the Collemaggio in L’Aquila.
I believe this is the Church Pope Benedict prayed at the tomb of Pope St.Celestine V After the 2009 earthquake... Pope St.Celestine V
His successor had him imprisoned until he died so he couldn't become a rival to the papacy. Just sayin'
What?!? A Pope would have an innocent person imprisoned? But we are supposed to agree with and follow everything they do!! Sorry, couldn't resist.
Heres a more in depth interview with Scott Hahn Scott Hahn: resignation shows Pope's servant nature By Carl Bunderson Steubenville, Ohio, Feb 12, 2013 / 04:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict's decision to resign as Bishop of Rome shows how the papacy is an office not of power but of service, reflected author and professor Dr. Scott Hahn. “It seems to me this might be for him, the most humble and obedient act of service that he can render in his own conscience,” Hahn, a professor of Biblical theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, told CNA Feb. 11. “It's a profound reminder that the papacy is not an office of power, but one of service, and so, if anybody has had a sense of servant-hood, it is Pope Benedict.” Hahn said that while the decision is a surprise, in retrospect, “we can see the clues.” He recounted that a friend of his who taught in Rome for some fifty years “in December told a friend of mine and me that he knew, that he had heard, that within three months the Pope would resign.” “In some ways I'm surprised at how surprised I am,” Hahn said. He pointed out that Pope Benedict had said in a 2010 interview with Peter Seewald that a Pope has “a right and, under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign.”
contd... “I began thinking about it, and when I hearkened back to those two seemingly irrelevant, or unimportant stops...Celestine V has always been an interesting figure in my study of the papacy, and I went and looked at this, and began to realize that this has been on his mind for a long time.” As Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger two or three times submitted his resignation to Pope John Paul II, Hahn noted. “I'm sure the Holy Spirit will be steering the barque of Peter in a wonderful direction, but it is unsettling, because he is a father, and as we think of the Church as a family, there comes a time when a father becomes so old and infirm, that one of the most profound gestures of love might be to hand things over to the next one in line,” he observed. “You can see this in Scripture too, David stepping down as king and appointing Solomon before he dies.” Hahn reflected on the deep effect this decision is having on Catholics the world over. “It's a hard thing to explain to outsiders, the mystery of a family bond that we all share, and how deeply we feel it. But here is a man who is a father figure to us all, and not just in a kind of symbolic way, but inasmuch as we are really united in a new birth, and the flesh and blood of the Eucharist, and this man, we know him to be our father, even more than our natural dads at one level.” He contrasted the witnesses of Pope Benedict and his predecessor, saying both have something to offer the Church. “On the one hand, it was a profound thing for Blessed John Paul II to show us how to suffer and die.” “On the other hand, here's a man who began when he was 78... so I think there's something magnanimous about this alternate direction that he's taking. It's not something that strikes a chord with me, there isn't a sliver of me saying, 'oh I'm glad he did it,' but I can see why, and I can see how, our Lord will use it.” Hahn also discussed the profound thought of Pope Benedict. “I was devouring this guy's stuff before I was even sure I was gonna become a Catholic. I like Balthasar, de Lubac, Congar, Danielou, and all the rest, but they couldn't hold a candle to this guy.” Hahn recalled how he submitted the manuscript of his work “Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI” to an evangelical Protestant publishing house, expecting it to be turned down. “But they didn't, and they picked it up enthusiastically. The editor in chief said, 'I had no idea that your Pope could make the Scriptures come alive, and the Scriptures saturate all of his theology.'” Pope Benedict, Hahn said, is a man whose thinking, preaching and prayer are all “profoundly biblical.” http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/scott-hahn-resignation-shows-popes-servant-nature/
