Pope Benedict has announced he will be resigning at the end of the month. The 85 year old pontiff told cardinals of his resignation, citing a lack of strength due to his age.
“After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” he told the cardinals. “I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only by words and deeds but no less with prayer and suffering.”
Pope Benedict will be the first Pope in 600 years to resign from the post, with only four of five popes resigning in the churches history.
Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana and Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria are early possible successors for the position. With others suggesting a cardinal from Latin America may be Pope Benedict’s successor.
The Director of the CIA has resigned after after an extra-martial affair. David Petraeus, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, before taking up the post of CIA Director said, “After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours… This afternoon, the President graciously accepted my resignation.”
The CIA has come under close scrutiny in recent weeks after the terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi. However, Petraeus stressed his decision to step down was entirely for “personal reasons”.
Petraeus is a highly respected figure in Washington and amongst the military.
“General David Petraeus will stand in the ranks of America’s greatest military heroes. His inspirational leadership and his genius were directly responsible — after years of failure — for the success of the surge in Iraq,” Sen. John McCain, (R-Ariz.), said. “General Petraeus has devoted his life to serving the country he loves, and America is so much the better for it.”