[LMB] About Gregor

[Peter Granzeau]

At 07:26 PM 4/18/2008, Jim Parish wrote:
>Peter Granzeau wrote:
>
>> Here and now, there is but one single tradition of a monarch who
>> abdicates into retirement:  queens of the Netherlands have done so
>> (Wilhelmina and Juliana, anyway--we don't yet know how Beatrix feels
>> about it).  I don't believe any other monarch has ever gone into
>> retirement, although there have of course been monarchs forced to
>> leave (Leopold III of Belgium, for instance).
>
>Hmm? What bounds are you putting on this? The Emperor Diocletian 
>comes to mind, and Pope Celestine V; both of those were voluntary. 
>(Diocletian was apparently worn out, and Celestine decided he wasn't 
>fit for the job.)

I was thinking of modern examples, of course; I'm not a whole lot lettered in the classical ages or Popes of any age, other to mention that the current pope is already older than any active bishops of his church (they have been ordered to retire, I believe at 75), and cardinals permitted to vote on a new Pope must not have reached 80; but popes themselves stay on, although extremely old and extremely feeble and sick.


-- 
Regards, Pete
pgranzeau at cox.net