In a surprise announcement Monday, Pope Benedict XVI said he would resign this month after less than eight years in office. He's the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years, when Pope Gregory XII stepped down, and the first to have done so voluntarily since Celestine V in 1294.
Sr. Marianna Farina, DSPT, participating in KQED's Forum on the topic, discussed potential sucessors and the future of the Catholic Church in the U.S. and worldwide.
Host: Michael Krasny
Guests:
- George Wesolek, director of the Department of Communications and Public Policy at the Archdiocese of San Francisco
- Sally Vance-Trembath, lecturer in religious studies at Santa Clara University
- Sister Marianne Farina, associate professor of philosophy and theology and department chair of theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology
- Sylvia Poggioli, senior European correspondent for NPR's foreign desk