Popes who resign are humble, Francis says in central Italy visit

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  1. >L’Aquila, a central Italian city which Francis visited briefly, is the burial place of Celestine V, who resigned as pope in 1294 after only five months to return to his life as a hermit, establishing a papal prerogative. However, in an interview with Reuters last month Francis, 85, laughed the idea off, saying “it never entered my mind”, while leaving open the possibility that he could step down for health reasons in the distant future. In the homily of a Mass for thousands of people in a central square, Francis noted that in “The Divine Comedy”, Dante Alighieri condemned Celestine for having carried out what the medieval poet called “The Great Refusal”.

  2. I think he wants to step down and is just waiting for Pope Benedict to pass to avoid the confusion of having three popes alive at the same time

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