Ecce sacerdos magnus, qui in diebus suis, placuit Deo; Behold the great priest, who in his days, pleased God

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I deeply respect Pope Benedict's decision to step down as the Bishop of Rome at the end of the month. This action means he is a humble person, who realizes his limits. With all due respect, I thought Pope John Paul's clinging to his office when his health had deterioted so badly was grotesque and obscene, and not life-affirming. It would have been a much more dignified course of action had he retired.

Pope Benedict wrote two wonderful encyclicals, one on the love of God, and the other and the world economic system. If he accomplished nothing else in his time in office, the wisdom of those two encyclicals would be enough.

I would like to acknowledge the ministry of Pope Benedict. However, rather than writing my own tribute,  I thought I would share it with you the beautiful tribute my friend Ryan wrote:

"I consider myself a liberal yet mildly orthodox Christian. I am a supporter of Liberation Theology and the use of Marxian categories for theological discourse, as well as the freedom of women, gays, and non-traditional family structures. I am not Roman Catholic. However I have some difference with the current Pope I gladly admit that Ratzinger... is a man of great erudition, social analysis, and piety. Caritas in Veritate was a masterwork of social democracy and economic equanimity. Ratzinger is the last Pope who will have intimately bridged two generations, the pre-Vatican II world and the new Church. He worked with my hero Karl Rahner, and was someone who respected tradition and progress at the same time. Ratzinger is not the mean reactionary ogre that the bourgeois press makes him out to be, his ideas and teachings are much more nuanced and insightful than a label can explain away. Sadly much of the scandal brought on Ratzinger’s Papacy was the result of indifference and willful ignorance on the part of his unblessed predecessor John Paul II. If only John Paul II would have resigned sooner, but pride no doubt stood in his way. Ratzinger is a truly humble man, and one who I respect and esteem." – Ryan Michael

I could not have said it better myself...