Church Unprepared for Papal Incapacitation
by John Thavis
Catholic News Service
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The worsening of Pope John Paul II's health problems
has prompted people inside and outside the Vatican to ponder the question: What happens if a
pope becomes incapacitated?
No one is suggesting that Pope John Paul has reached that condition or is even close to it. In early March, he reportedly was making a good recovery from a tracheotomy and was expected to resume a modified schedule of activities within weeks.
But the pope's latest health scare has reminded church officials that canon law fails to spell out what procedures would be followed if a pope, for example, slips into a long or irreversible coma, or if he completely loses his ability to communicate.
The pope has a neurological illness believed to be Parkinson's disease, which progressively weakens patients and often leaves them disabled.
No one is suggesting that Pope John Paul has reached that condition or is even close to it. In early March, he reportedly was making a good recovery from a tracheotomy and was expected to resume a modified schedule of activities within weeks.
But the pope's latest health scare has reminded church officials that canon law fails to spell out what procedures would be followed if a pope, for example, slips into a long or irreversible coma, or if he completely loses his ability to communicate.
The pope has a neurological illness believed to be Parkinson's disease, which progressively weakens patients and often leaves them disabled.
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Canonists interviewed in Rome expressed concern at the situation, saying
there is a serious gap between the church's preparedness to deal with a disabled pope and the
ability of modern medicine to keep people alive in a physically or mentally disabled state.
Those interviewed did not want to be named, however, because almost any statement on the topic now risks being seen at the Vatican as pressuring the pope to resign.
"It is a new situation and presents a serious dilemma, one that could have deep repercussions on church governance," said one church law expert.
Canon law speaks of "special laws" that should be followed when the Apostolic See becomes impeded or vacant. The laws for a vacant see, which spell out the papal election process, are well-known and were last revised by the pope in 1996, but no special laws for an "impeded" pope have ever been promulgated.
The reason, according to one canonist in Rome, is the difficulty in devising a process that can respond to concrete situations of mental or physical incapacity without being subject to political pressures.
"The key question is always: Who is going to decide the pope is impeded or incapacitated, that he no longer has the faculties to govern? And that opens a whole series of practical problems," he said.
Some church law experts would say a pope is impeded when he can no longer communicate, either through speech or writing or in some other intelligible manner. That is a concern at the Vatican, because many Parkinson's patients eventually become completely unable to communicate or move.
The assumption by some canonists is that, if necessary, the College of Cardinals could meet and declare that a pope no longer has control of his faculties and is therefore impeded in his office. But just the prospect of that kind of meeting, and the possibility of disagreement among cardinals, makes it unthinkable to some.
Also, it is far from clear who would run the church if the pope were declared impeded -- especially in carrying out those duties reserved personally to the pontiff, like the appointment of bishops or the publication of important documents.
In the case of a pope who has gone into a long coma, cardinals would be hesitant to declare a pope impeded unless the coma were clearly irreversible, said one canon law expert.
There have long been rumors that Pope John Paul has left a letter with a trusted aide, perhaps instructing cardinals to consider him resigned in case of incapacity.
The problem with such a letter is that someone else would have to decide when to pull it out of the drawer and apply it, said one canon law expert at a Rome university.
Church law states that a pope can resign, but it stipulates that papal resignation must be "made freely and properly manifested" -- conditions that would be difficult to ascertain if a pope were already incapacitated.
Like the issue of papal incapacitation, resignation is such a sensitive issue at the Vatican right now that few church officials will openly discuss it.
After Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state, answered a journalist's question about papal resignation by saying it must be left to the pope's conscience, he was privately criticized by others at the Vatican for even talking about the possibility.
With that in mind, the church legal experts said it would probably be the next pontificate, not this one, that addresses the question of papal incapacity in a systematic way.
Those interviewed did not want to be named, however, because almost any statement on the topic now risks being seen at the Vatican as pressuring the pope to resign.
"It is a new situation and presents a serious dilemma, one that could have deep repercussions on church governance," said one church law expert.
Canon law speaks of "special laws" that should be followed when the Apostolic See becomes impeded or vacant. The laws for a vacant see, which spell out the papal election process, are well-known and were last revised by the pope in 1996, but no special laws for an "impeded" pope have ever been promulgated.
The reason, according to one canonist in Rome, is the difficulty in devising a process that can respond to concrete situations of mental or physical incapacity without being subject to political pressures.
"The key question is always: Who is going to decide the pope is impeded or incapacitated, that he no longer has the faculties to govern? And that opens a whole series of practical problems," he said.
Some church law experts would say a pope is impeded when he can no longer communicate, either through speech or writing or in some other intelligible manner. That is a concern at the Vatican, because many Parkinson's patients eventually become completely unable to communicate or move.
The assumption by some canonists is that, if necessary, the College of Cardinals could meet and declare that a pope no longer has control of his faculties and is therefore impeded in his office. But just the prospect of that kind of meeting, and the possibility of disagreement among cardinals, makes it unthinkable to some.
Also, it is far from clear who would run the church if the pope were declared impeded -- especially in carrying out those duties reserved personally to the pontiff, like the appointment of bishops or the publication of important documents.
In the case of a pope who has gone into a long coma, cardinals would be hesitant to declare a pope impeded unless the coma were clearly irreversible, said one canon law expert.
There have long been rumors that Pope John Paul has left a letter with a trusted aide, perhaps instructing cardinals to consider him resigned in case of incapacity.
The problem with such a letter is that someone else would have to decide when to pull it out of the drawer and apply it, said one canon law expert at a Rome university.
Church law states that a pope can resign, but it stipulates that papal resignation must be "made freely and properly manifested" -- conditions that would be difficult to ascertain if a pope were already incapacitated.
Like the issue of papal incapacitation, resignation is such a sensitive issue at the Vatican right now that few church officials will openly discuss it.
After Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state, answered a journalist's question about papal resignation by saying it must be left to the pope's conscience, he was privately criticized by others at the Vatican for even talking about the possibility.
With that in mind, the church legal experts said it would probably be the next pontificate, not this one, that addresses the question of papal incapacity in a systematic way.
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