Thanks, Your Holiness
I'm not sure why everyone is acting shocked over Pope Benedict's announcement that he's going to step down as Supreme Pontiff and give a younger man a shot at the Chair of St. Peter. He was older than dirt when they elected him Pope eight years ago, and at this point he is older than Pope John Paul II was when that holy man died in office after a long and painful illness.
For what my opinion is worth, he did a good job, considering that he was elected as (essentially) a placeholder. He annoyed all the right people inside and outside the Church, did his best to clean up the leftover messes from previous papacies, and proved not to be the slavering inquisitor so many had feared he might be. If he was not what people hoped he would be, perhaps the fault is in them and their expectations and not in the man himself.
I hope he enjoys a few years of peace and quiet before the end.
For what my opinion is worth, he did a good job, considering that he was elected as (essentially) a placeholder. He annoyed all the right people inside and outside the Church, did his best to clean up the leftover messes from previous papacies, and proved not to be the slavering inquisitor so many had feared he might be. If he was not what people hoped he would be, perhaps the fault is in them and their expectations and not in the man himself.
I hope he enjoys a few years of peace and quiet before the end.