Irish Examiner view: Is Pope set for the great retirement?

Pope Francis addresses the faithful during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

No doubt Pope Francis will keep us guessing as to whether he is going to join what has become known as The Great Retirement, although Vatican watchers claim to have found some clues and symbols in the way he has organised his diary for this summer.

It would be unusual to have two retired popes in circulation at the same time. Benedict XVI, the German Joseph Ratzinger, aged 95, retired in 2013 and is the longest living Pope.

Pope Francis visited Ireland in 2018 and, in a speech delivered in Italian, condemned the history of sex and child abuse committed by clergy, although he stopped short of acknowledging victims’ demands for further action against the perpetrators. We commented that Catholicism remained of enormous importance to very many Irish people. There will be time for further analysis of this Pope’s contributions, which have been significant, if he decides to retire.