What is an ex-Pope called?
Asked by
Strauss (
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February 11th, 2013
What happens to the title when a pope abdicates? Does the Pope become Pope Emeritus, like tenured college professor? Or maybe he just goes back to being “Cardinal Ratzinger””.
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44 Answers
“Benny”.
I couldn’t resist. Anyway, we don’t really know what he’ll be called, since it’s been 600 years.
Traditionally an ex-pope has been called “dead and buried”,
Bennie’s resignation makes all sorts questions important:
Suppose he and the new pope disagree – the pope is supposed to be infallible – who does the Church listen to?
What does he wear? he can’t wear his papal robes
Does he get free transportation? If he travels, what sort of honors does he receive?
And so on.
Heard a report saying he will retire to a monastery to write. If he writes a horror story then he could be called Edgar Allan Pope. If he decides to open an ice cream shop, it will be named Ben and Dick’s. : )
A little fish in a big See??
I suspect that, like a former President, he’s still called Pope.
ex-Pope who wears black – Darth Pope
ex-Pope chasing photographers – Poparazzi
ex-Pope who does silly things – nincompope
I can’t come up with a better answer than some of the ones above, but here are a few Papal-isms… with respect…
His Holiness with a camera – Popearazzi
His Holiness out in the cold – Popecycle
Pontiff wearing cologne – Popepourri
Candidate for next Holy Father – Any Pope in a storm
Papal sandwich (formerly fish)—Popeboy
This one; hitler youth pedo priest protector.
Pope Emeritus?
The German Guy Formerly Known as The Pope?
Aryan Master Priest?
Plain Brother Benedict, or… what was his first name before he was Pope? Plain Brother That.
@susanc Wouldn’t it be Father Whatever?
It would be funny if he became Bernadette.
My guess is he will no longer carry a title, but is to be addressed as “your Holiness”.
Fun fact: There were 3 Pope Benedict XIV’s! The first 2 are now considered Anti-popes.
this is really in General?
At IHOP, in honor of His would be former Holiness, they are now serving Ex-Benedict with bacon and hash browns.
@mazingerz88, not too many posts get an actual LOL from me, but that one did. GA.
Do you know what Yogi Berra said when he met the Pope? “Hi, Pope!”
If they take away all of his priestly goods, have then been ex-pope-riated?
He’s a holy-owned subsidiary ;-)
@filmfann Yes, I posted this in general. but…well…
This question has got me thinking about the pope selection process. Does a person who is chosen as pope have to formally agree to becoming pope? If so, does the white smoke get sent up only after the person chosen has accepted? Has anyone ever refused?
@LostInParadise Since 1139, the pope has always been chosen from among the cardinals, so the prime candidates—the papabiles—will be there among the voting cardinals. Since there are many rounds of voting, I would think that a cardinal who isn’t willing to be pope would make that known when his name started appearing in early votes.
What’s a retired pope called? I dunno…a quitter?
Since he was a Cardinal before he was elected Pope, I think he would go back to being a member of the College of Cardinals. He would probably not be assigned (at least administratively) an archdiocese, so he could retire to end his years writing and praying, as I heard one report say.
Emeritus Pope the White. Tolkienishly speaking.
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