"but openly and demonstrably has kept himself in the papal office"I've refuted your "ministry" but not "office" claim repeatedly. You (and others) argue that Benedict did not resign
the office of Pope as specified by
Canon Law 332 Section 2:
"If it happens that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested but not that it is accepted by anyone."Since Benedict XVI did not use the exact word "
office" you argue, he still has it. You choose to ignore
Benedict XVI resigned his
ministry "in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is."The only "way" those events could transpire is if Benedict XVI renounced his
office as well.
With you that line of reasoning falls on deaf ears, like all reason does.
In some of your posts, you've even invented far-fetched claims Benedict was
deliberately vague and
purposefully omitted the term "
office" in some nebulous scheme to retain the Papacy. You ignore Benedict's personally chosen title of "Pope
Emeritus" a term which, by definition, applies only to one who no longer holds
office.
Not good enough, you insist. Nothing will suffice short of Benedict XVI of explicitly renouncing the
office of the Papacy. Your insistence on this is little different than a grade-schooler's petty attempts at legalism in playground argument, "He has to say '
office' or it doesn't count."
As it turns out, Benedict XVI did so in his last
General Audience as Pope, held on Wednesday, 27 February 2013 the day before his resignation went into effect.
www.vatican.va/…/hf_ben-xvi_aud_…"The "always" is also a "for ever" - there can no longer be a return to the private sphere. My decision to resign the active exercise of the ministry does not revoke this. I do not return to private life, to a life of travel, meetings, receptions, conferences, and so on. I am not abandoning the cross, but remaining in a new way at the side of the crucified Lord. I no longer bear the power of office for the governance of the Church, but in the service of prayer I remain, so to speak, in the enclosure of Saint Peter."Benedict XVI complied with Canon Law and publicly resigned the
office of the Papacy, saying so in his own words:
"I no longer bear the power of office for the governance of the Church."