Robert S Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 I guess the most positive thing you can say about him is that he knew his place as pope, that he mostly got "the job" as respect for his predecessor and a pope to hold the position just for a couple of years and did not overstay his welcome (not on this world, as a pope). In German there is the term "Übergangspapst" - literally "transitional pope"; the term was initially used for John XXIII but was also invoked for Benedict XVI, an old guy who is expected to leave things as they are for a couple of years while the different parties within the college of cardinals can organize themselves to come up with a strong candidate after a long pontificate - John Paul II in Ratzinger's case, Pius XII for Roncalli. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted December 31, 2022 Author Share Posted December 31, 2022 Notably, this is the first time a Pope and an English monarch has died in the same year since 1830. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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