We’re hearing that he is undergoing a tracheotomy. Things are getting more serious. This is a bigger issue than his previous hospitalization. How many times do people relapse from the flu after they are released from the hospital? Stay tuned.
Update: He is out of surgery. He was able to give his consent to the surgery. The Vatican says his post-operative condition is “regular.” I don’t think he is going to die today, but he is not going to live forever. Keep him in your prayers. This is going to a very difficult Lent for the Holy Father.
Update 2: They’re talking now on Fox News with Fr. Thomas Reese, S.J., of America about what to do about a pope who’s so incapacitated that he can’t communicate, even to resign. What’s to discuss? You do nothing. The Church is not the United States. The Pope doesn’t have give authorization to launch the nukes. If he’s incapacitated, it’s not like he’s going to live forever in that state. Appointments of new bishops would halt, new canonizations as well, and most new documents would be held up. But that’s it. The Church would continue her business: Masses would be said, sacraments administered, people evangelized.
I don’t understand this fetish with age limits and papal resignations. Nevermind the fact that no canonical legislation is binding on any pope without his consent. By definition he is the supreme legislator and if he disagrees with a law, it’s gone. It’s a lot of silly talk, sometimes by people who just want this pope to go away.
