Marc Barnes posts here on why it is a good thing that Pope Benedict stepped down:

This is what I mean when I say that Benedict gave us a universal principle — if it was proper for him to resign upon an honest recognition of deteriorating strength, then it is proper for any Pope to resign under that same condition. By his resignation, Benedict has challenged the entire future: Put the work first. Put the commission first. Feed the sheep first. Put acting out the command of Christ, to go and evangelize all nations, first.

The Pope is a representative of Christ on Earth, but he is also a man, and that’s the beauty of the thing. By resigning, a Pope does not diminish the glory of the Church and her life-giving teachings — he accentuates her infinitely, first by reminding us that it is precisely fallen men, prone to illness and diminishment — you and I — who are made keepers of and proclaimers of her mysteries, and secondly, by putting the mission of the papacy ahead of the office of the papacy, the goal ahead of the journey, the salvation of all nations and the love of Christ before all else. And that’s just how the Church oughtta do.

Hear, Hear.

I agree. The only problem I can foresee is what happens when Pope Francis wants to resign and Benedict is still alive. Could we have three popes? Four?

Will they live together in a monastery for old popes?

Read the whole post here.