Pope's resignation piques curiosity for theology class

Intermountain Catholic

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Nicole Veltri, Juan Diego Catholic High School theology teacher, discusses with her junior class on Feb. 11 the breaking news of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation. IC photo/Christine Young

DRAPER — The Juan Diego Catholic High School junior theology class had already been discussing various popes and the conclave, or the process of selecting a new pope, when the news about the Pontiff’s resignation broke Feb. 11.

What they learned after discussing his resignation in class Feb. 11 was that the papacy is entering unchartered territory and many questions will go unanswered for a while.

"When you are in a position like Pope Benedict XVI is, and are the head of more than 1 billion Catholics, travel is necessary," said Nicole Veltri, Juan Diego theology teacher. "With his health being an issue and his doctor saying he could no longer travel, that is a really big deal."

Student questions about the conclave included ‘Do the cardinals give campaign speeches or vote for themselves?’ and ‘What exactly does conclave mean?’

"Conclave means under lock and key, and part of the reason for that is the cardinals are locked into the Sistine Chapel during this time," said Veltri. "They don’t give campaign speeches, but they probably speak among themselves in the College of Cardinals; they vote secretly and even try to disguise their handwriting. This is a major responsibility. Since the Middle Ages that has meant they did not come out until there was a pope elected."

The Catholic Church currently has 209 cardinals, of whom 117 are eligible to vote for the new pope, according to Catholic News Service.

"Benedict is over the age of 80, so he will not be able to vote," Veltri said. "When Pope John Paul II was pope, he made some changes in how the conclave worked. They need a two-thirds majority in order to elect a new pope. There may be front-runners, and also three or four favorites. There is going to be all kinds of speculation for the next couple of weeks as to who will be our next pope."

Benedict’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II, suffered from Parkinson’s disease, and some people feared "that modern medicine was allowing him to live longer, and leaving the Catholic Church in a place where they wouldn’t have a leader," said Veltri. "Benedict XVI wrote a piece about the responsibility of a pope to abdicate if he was not well or not in good health and that he would step down if his health failed. I’m certain there will be a lot of people asking questions about why he is doing this but we don’t know."

During the class, more questions surfaced such as how long will it take before a new pope is elected, what will Pope Benedict be called after he is no longer pope, what will it be like to go into Easter without a pope, and the answer to each of these questions was, ‘this is all unchartered territory.’