Choc and shadows

Analyses, interviews and reflections on the renunciation to the Pontificate of Benedict XVI fill the front pages of European dailies. Italy. "We’re all part of a very profound emotion but we ought to place this event within the horizon of faith", declared Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, in an interview published by Italian daily Avvenire. "The Church is solidly in the hands of Jesus" – the prelate assured – while "we witness the great stature of the man that the Lord has bestowed upon us for 8 years". Before this decision all we can do is bow our heads in respect for the shepherd and the man, and inasmuch as it is possible in our times, in silence", wrote the president emeritus of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi on the Italian daily Sole 24 ore. In an op-ed, the editor in chief of Corriere della Sera, Ferruccio de Bortoli, underlined the Pope’s love "for the truly spiritual dimension of the Church" along with the fundamental "work of transparency and integrity" he undertook in its midst. The act through which the Pope will "leave in full acknowledgement his office – writes Jaoquin Navarro-Valls, former director of the Vatican press office on the daily La Repubblica – constitutes the highest affirmation of institutional sovereignty he embodied, a refined, humble and considerate self-dismissal" from the Papacy, illuminating "the significance of the Church’s presence in history". Spain. The Catalan daily La Vanguardia, in the editorial by José Antich, acknowledges Benedict XVI’s "lesson of humbleness, in times when opposite trends mark the mundane realm". Antich quotes from a statement by the Archbishop of Barcelona Lluís Martínez Sistach, for whom the Pope’s renunciation "testifies to his coherence", representing a "good example for others". For the Spanish daily El Pais, "corruption and intrigue" have caused the Pope’s decision to step down. Germany. Most of the German press focuses on the behind-the-scene story. "Benedict XVI steps down. He has no more force. Or is he the victim of conspiracy?" writes Bild, describing the last year "as the most bitter year for the Pontiff". "This farewell is great, tragic and beautiful", remarks der Welt, describing the Pope’s decision as "fully understandable but equally enigmatic". For Spiegel, "Benedict XVI polarized the Church more than it united it", and in the Vatican for some his gesture is "a liberation". Great Britain. The Daily Telegraph presents the profile of "the quiet intellectual and theologian" that some described as "the Rottweiler of God", reiterating the Pope’s words: "too weak to continue". "Pope Benedict XVI’s shock resignation", is the Guardian’s headline. "Benedict XVI: the revolutionary Pope? Resignation seen as ‘eruption of modernity", and "Empty See: 1.2 billion Catholics seek new leader", are two titles from The Independent. "Despite his personal charisma, pope Benedict leaves behind him a Church fearful of change", writes Diarmaid MacCullochkj on the Times, while the op-ed the Financial Times states that the resignation of Benedict XVI signals "the opportunity of change".Francia. "Cogitatio" is the headline in Latin of Libération by chief editor Nicolas Demorand, for the occasion Nicolaus Demorandis. "Nobody – he states – will ever know if Pope Benedict has given in to physical or metaphysical strain: whether it is the body that can no longer live up to the commitment or if the soul has ceased to believe, torn by the inescapable secularization of the world that could go so far as to touch a Pope". "I hereby declare that I renounce the ministry as bishop of Rome, successor of Saint Peter", is the headline of Le Figaro, that dedicated to Benedict XVI’s resignation the editorial title "The humbleness of a Pope", with a dossier examining the possible candidates to his succession. "The Pope’s self-dismissal from the Papacy", titles Catholic daily La Croix. "The decision of Benedict XVI to step down conveys a humble understanding of his mission and great political bravery". The Holy Father is "faithful servant" for Dominique Greiner, for whom the choice of the date for the announcement "is not by chance". "A humble and transparent act" is the title of the editorial by Le Monde which on the succession writes: "It is hard to believe that Benedict XVI" will not follow the question "even if he should be in spiritual retreat in a Vatican monastery". Le Monde recalls that the Pope "has appointed over 50% of electing cardinals" which, for the French daily "leads to predict that the next Pope will be younger but equally conservative".