Pope’s resignation shocks Kerala

Feb 12, 2013 |

Age Correspondent

The news of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on health grounds was received with shock and disbelief in Kerala, home to 55 lakh Catholics of which two will themselves be candidates when the process to elect the new head of the church is initiated on February 28.
Sixty-seven year old Mar George Alencherry and 53-year-old Mar Baselios Cleemis from the state are part of the 120-strong electoral college for picking the new Pope. Under the system followed in the church for selecting the Pope, all those in the electoral college are candidates and voters at the same time.
Cardinal Oswald Gracius and Cardinal Ivan Dias, both from Mumbai, and Cardinal Telesphore Toppo of Ranchi are the three others from India to take part in the process.
Only Cardinals below the age of 80 can be in the electoral college. Addressing the media in Thiruvananthapuram, Cardinal Cleemis said that the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI was a testimony to his character and spiritual purity.
Asked if someone from India or Asia would become the next Pope, Mar Cleemis said that the church members were still in a shock over the resignation and hence could not think about any other thing. Mar Cleemis also said that he had a close relation with Pope Benedict. “I knew him since 1992 when I went to Rome. Interactions with Pope Benedict always gave a positive energy,” he recollected.
Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) spokesman Fr Stephen Alathara said the news surprised church circles. “This is something that happens very rarely in history,” he said.

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