A papal renunciation (Latin: renuntiatio) occurs when the reigning pope of the Roman Catholic Church voluntarily steps down from his position. As the reign of the pope has conventionally been from election until death, papal renunciation is an uncommon event. Before the 21st century, only five popes unambiguously resigned with historical certainty, all between the 10th and 15th centuries. Additionally, disputed claims of four popes having resigned date between the 3rd and 11th centuries; a fifth disputed case may have involved an antipope.
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Additionally, a few popes during the saeculum obscurum were "deposed," meaning driven from office by force. The history and canonical question here is complicated; generally, the official Vatican list of popes seems to recognize such "depositions" as valid renunciations if the pope acquiesced, but not if he did not. The later development of canon law has been in favor of papal supremacy, leaving no recourse to remove a pope involuntarily.
The most recent pope to resign was Benedict XVI, who vacated the Holy See on 28 February 2013 at 19:00 UTC. He was the first pope to do so since Gregory XII in 1415.
Despite its common usage in discussion of papal renunciations, the term "abdication" is not used in the official documents of the Church for renunciation by a pope.
Procedure
The 1983 Code of Canon Law mentions papal renunciation in Canon 332, where it states:
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.
This corresponds to Canon 221 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law,
If it happens that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is not required for validity that the resignation is accepted by the Cardinals or by anyone else.
Both the 1983 Code and the 1917 Code make explicit that there is no particular individual or body of people to whom the pope must manifest his renunciation. This addresses a concern raised in earlier centuries, specifically by 18th-century canonist Lucius Ferraris, who held that the College of Cardinals or at least its Dean must be informed, since the cardinals must be absolutely certain that the pope has renounced the dignity before they can validly proceed to elect a successor.
History
The Catholic Encyclopedia notes the historically obscure renunciations of Pontian (230–235) and Marcellinus (296–308), the historically postulated renunciation of Liberius (352–366), and that one (unspecified) catalogue of popes lists John XVIII as resigning office in 1009 and ending his life as a monk.
During the saeculum obscurum several popes were "deposed" or coerced into renunciation by political and military force. John X is considered to have been deposed by some, but he seems to have died in prison before his successor Leo VI was elected anyway. As another example, consider the story of John XII, Leo VIII, and Benedict V. John XII had been invalidly deposed by the Emperor Otto in 963, never renouncing his claim. Leo VIII was set up as an antipope by Otto at this time. However, John XII won back his rightful place in 964. When John XII died in 964, Benedict V was elected. However, Otto wanted Leo VIII put back on the papal throne and, using military might, forced Benedict to abdicate later that same summer; Benedict's renunciation is considered valid. Leo VIII is then considered the legitimate pope until his death in 965, thus having been (at various points in his life) both an antipope and a valid pope. Benedict V never again attempted to claim the papacy, and did not contest the election of John XIII after Leo VIII (Benedict died shortly into the reign of John XIII anyway), and so his abdication is considered valid though some treated him as the valid pope until his death (after which John XIII was recognized from that point forward).
The first historically unquestionable papal renunciation is that of Benedict IX in 1045. Benedict had also previously been deposed by Sylvester III in 1044, and though he returned to take up the office again the next year, the Vatican considers Sylvester III to have been a legitimate pope in the intervening months (meaning that Benedict IX must be considered to have validly resigned by acquiescing to the deposition in 1044). Then, in 1045, having regained the papacy for a few months, in order to rid the Church of the scandalous Benedict, Gregory VI gave Benedict "valuable possessions" to resign the papacy in his favour. Gregory himself resigned in 1046 because the arrangement he had entered into with Benedict could have been considered simony. Gregory was followed by Clement II, and when Clement died, Benedict IX returned to be elected to the papacy for a third time, only to resign yet again before dying in a monastery. He thus reigned as pope for three non-consecutive terms, and resigned (or was deposed) three separate times.
A well-known renunciation of a pope is that of Celestine V, in 1294. After only five months of pontificate, he issued a solemn decree declaring it permissible for a pope to resign, and then did so himself. He lived two more years as a hermit and then prisoner of his successor Boniface VIII and was later canonised. Celestine's decree, and Boniface concurring (not revoking it), ended any doubt among canonists about the possibility of a valid papal renunciation.
Gregory XII (1406–1415) resigned in 1415 in order to end the Western Schism, which had reached the point where there were three claimants to the papal throne: Roman Pope Gregory XII, Avignon Antipope Benedict XIII, and Pisan Antipope John XXIII. Before resigning, he formally convened the already existing Council of Constance and authorized it to elect his successor.
Benedict XVI
The renunciation of Pope Benedict XVI occurred on 28 February 2013 at 20:00 (8:00 PM) CET (19:00 UTC). The renunciation was first announced on the morning of 11 February 2013 by the Vatican. Benedict's decision to step down as leader of the Catholic Church made him the first pope to relinquish the office since Pope Gregory XII in 1415 (who did so in order to end the Western Schism), and the first to do so on his own initiative since Pope Celestine V in 1294. The move was unexpected, given that the modern era popes have held the position from election until death. The Pope stated that the reason for his decision was his declining health due to old age. The renunciation took place as planned on 28 February 2013. The conclave to select his successor began on 12 March 2013 and elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who took the name of Francis.
Conditional renunciations not put into effect
Before setting out for Paris to crown Napoleon in 1804, Pope Pius VII (1800–1823) signed a document of renunciation to take effect if he were imprisoned in France.
It has been claimed that during World War II, Pius XII drew up a document with instructions that, if he were kidnapped by the Nazis, he was to be considered to have resigned his office, and that the College of Cardinals were to evacuate to neutral Portugal and elect a successor.
In February 1989, John Paul II wrote a letter of renunciation to the Dean of the College of Cardinals, which said that he would resign from the papacy in one of two cases: if he had an incurable disease that would prevent him from exercising the apostolic ministry; or in case of a "severe and prolonged impairment" that would have kept him from being the pope.
Incapacitation
Canon law makes no provision for a pope being incapacitated for reasons of health, either temporarily or permanently; nor does it specify what body has the authority to certify that the pope is incapacitated. It does state that "When the Roman See is vacant, or completely impeded, no innovation is to be made in the governance of the universal Church."
If requested, a diocesan bishop must offer his renunciation from the governance of his diocese on completion of his seventy-fifth year of age and cardinals are not allowed to join a conclave after reaching eighty. However, there is no requirement for a pope to resign upon reaching any particular age. Since the enactment of these rules concerning diocesan bishops and cardinals, four popes—Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis—have reached the age of 80 during their pontificates. (John Paul I only reached the age of 65.)
In the years leading up to his death in 2005, some sources suggested that John Paul II ought to resign due to his failing health, but Vatican officials always ruled out this possibility (although it was later revealed that he had considered standing down in 2000, when he turned 80, so he clearly felt the possibility was there). However, Benedict XVI, his successor, resigned for just this reason.