All language subtitles for Pope The Most Powerful s01e02 The Resignation of Benedict XVI.eng

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

male narrator: One of the most
powerful men on Earth

holds a position
that has existed

for nearly 2,000 years.

♪ ♪

As the world changes
and faith evolves,

his authority remains.

What began with one apostle

has become
1.2 billion followers

under one man.

He is the head
of the Catholic Church,

the pope,

and this is his path to power.

♪ ♪

In this episode,

what happens
when the pope threatens

a 2,000-year-old tradition...

leaving two men at the helm
of one divine office

for the first time
in over 500 years?

♪ ♪

- We're following
breaking news this morning.

Pope Benedict XVI
has announced he is resigning.

- For the first time
in 600 years,

a pope is retiring.

♪ ♪

- I was astonished
when Benedict resigned.

It came completely
out of the blue.

- Benedict's resignation was
an amazing thing.

narrator:
In the last 2,000 years,

only four other popes
have resigned.

- [speaking Latin]

- It was wonderfully,
comically announced.

He announced it
at a papal audience in Latin,

and you had to see,
all around the room,

anyone who understood
what he was saying.

It was an astonishing thing
to do.

- It raises so many questions.

You know, what happens now?

♪ ♪

narrator: Two weeks after
Benedict XVI's resignation,

Pope Francis is elected,

and the papal crown is handed
from one man to the other.

- We have two popes,

but only one is the pope.

The problem
with having two popes

is that you have to decide
who do you listen to?

- Benedict was 85
when he resigned.

He inherited
the financial mess.

He inherited the mess
of sexual abuse.

He inherited
the administrative chaos.

Benedict resigned
because he realized

that these problems were simply
too great for him.

- It's not like other
human institutions.

It's created, we believe,
by God,

and this man is resigning
from all of that.

That not what popes
are supposed to do.

narrator:
For 2,000 years,

the legacy of St. Peter
has been a divine office

passed down from one pope
to the next.

But can two men
hold a legitimate claim

to one godly office?

[camera shutter clicks]

- It's left us
with this situation

of a pope and an extra pope,

and that's always
going to change

the nature of an institution.

Who's the real pope?

narrator: In 2013,

millions of people watch
as Benedict XVI

peacefully hands the papacy
over to Pope Francis.

But in the past,

two living men
with claim to one legacy

has resulted in nothing
but chaos.

- In the 10th
and 11th centuries,

if you've got two popes,
you've got two factions.

It's a--
an extraordinary episode.

♪ ♪

- Benedict IX was a teenager.

He was
the most eligible member

of the powerful Roman family

that ruled the city of Rome.

They wanted him to be pope
for their own financial gain,

their own territorial
supremacy.

- The papacy
was the legal center

of the Western world.

If a king needed
a dispensation

to marry his brother's wife,

if people wanted to take
possession of a local parish,

they would have to get
permission, pay a fee.

At Rome,
you are enormously powerful.

Immense responsibility.

narrator:
But 19-year-old Benedict

has no interest in bureaucracy
or public service.

♪ ♪

He is only interested
in the privileges of power.

♪ ♪

- Benedict is someone
who was clearly made pope

in order to enrich his family.

On the secular side,

not someone who had any sort
of spiritual authority,

even spiritual training.

- Nepotism tended to produce

a group of wealthy parasites

who lived like grandees,

who were also clergy.

♪ ♪

- He was incompetent.

He was morally compromised
in many ways.

- Benedict was up to his neck
in robbery and murder.

He was using his position
to gain wealth

at the expense
of the people of Rome.

♪ ♪

narrator:
By the year 1044,

the cardinals are fed up.

They decide the church needs

a real spiritual
and political leader.

Something must be done.

♪ ♪

- The holiest priest in Rome
came to him and said,

"You need to step down
for the good of the church.

What can I give you?"

And made him
some sort of offering.

- Benedict IX sold the papacy.

- Which, of course,
is against the canons.

narrator:
In the 11th century,

conclaves had not yet
been invented.

Popes were often chosen
by brute force

or nepotism.

- Buying church power
was considered

one of the worst sins
there was.

So the fact that he had
actually sold the papacy

in return for money

was appalling to everyone.

♪ ♪

narrator: For the first time
in recorded history,

a pope resigns
in exchange for money,

which catapults the papacy

into the world
of dirty politics.

- The papacy becomes a pawn

in the politics
of central Italy.

narrator:
But though the young pope

accepts the cardinal's bribe,

this will not be the last
the world hears

of Benedict IX.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

narrator: In 1044,

after eight years
of desecrating the papacy,

young Pope Benedict IX

accepts the cardinal's bribe
to resign.

♪ ♪

- They ganged up together

and drove Benedict out
of the city.

The Roman people
picked a new pope,

and he took the name
Sylvester III.

♪ ♪

narrator: Just weeks after

handing the papacy over
to Sylvester,

the former Pope Benedict IX
and his family decide

they want the throne back.

- And the awkward thing now
is that there were two popes,

and both of them were claiming
to be the heir of St. Peter.

Benedict, however,
had a wealthier family

than Sylvester,

and so his family
rallied behind him,

gave him an army.

He marched back into Rome,

and he drove
Sylvester III out.

- You find yourself bewildered
by this.

I mean, it's so far
from the apostles

or how any Christian leader
should be,

but that was the way
the church was.

And it's about
spiritual power

uncomfortably mixed
with worldly power.

♪ ♪

narrator:
Six months after accepting

the cardinal's bribe
to resign,

Benedict IX is reinstated
as pope.

♪ ♪

- Now their positions
had reversed.

Benedict is in Rome,

and Sylvester III
is in exile,

but they're both still claiming
to be pope.

♪ ♪

- Benedict IX was the first
pope that comes back,

and they have to decide, well,
who's the real pope now?

narrator:
With Rome's allegiances split

between Benedict
and Sylvester,

the church faces a crisis
of faith.

How does one decide who holds
the legacy of St. Peter?

The Romans will not have long
to figure it out.

♪ ♪

Only one month into
Benedict IX's second papacy,

he complicates the matter
even further.

- Benedict, then, in the way
of impetuous young men--

he decided he didn't want
to be pope anymore.

He'd had enough.

He wanted to get married.

♪ ♪

He handed the papacy
over to his godfather,

and he became Pope Gregory VI.

♪ ♪

Then the really scandalous
thing happened.

Benedict's lady love decided
not to marry him after all,

and he decided he wanted
the papacy back.

Gregory VI said,
"No, I'm pope."

Sylvester III, who's still
in the village outside,

probably said,
"Don't forget about me."

So now we actually have
three popes.

We have three popes,

and there is no one
to declare

which one is
the most legitimate.

narrator:
Benedict's, Sylvester's,

and Gregory's factions

all fight in the streets
of Rome

over who is the rightful heir
to the papal throne,

and in the end,

Benedict IX's wealthy family

wins again.

♪ ♪

- Benedict was pope
three times in the end.

♪ ♪

narrator:
After Benedict's reign

sends the church
into a tailspin,

the spiritual foundation
of the papacy

has been shattered.

- All of this becomes
a real problem for the church,

and you've got to
sort that out.

narrator:
In July of 1048,

Benedict IX
is officially ousted

once and for all.

♪ ♪

The cardinals decide
the fairest way

to consolidate papal power

is to ignore Sylvester

and Gregory's claims
to the throne,

clear the decks,

and elect a new pope.

- One of the problems
in the 11th century

was that there was no clear way
of choosing a pope.

♪ ♪

It was a matter of,
frequently,

murder...

♪ ♪

Bribery,

and also relationship.

The sons of popes
sometimes became popes.

Choosing a pope,
it's very confused,

and it's never a pretty sight.

- It's very clear
that the office of the papacy

can belong to whoever has

the most military might
to enforce it.

♪ ♪

narrator:
The cardinals realize

they must solidify rules

for papal elections.

They convene in an effort

to solve this problem
once and for all,

and the result

becomes one of the most
iconic symbols of the papacy.

♪ ♪

- In the 12th century,

cardinals who were
senior clergy in Rome

made what they called
a college, and after that,

cardinals would choose a pope
in public,

so that sort of
regularized things,

but of course,
you can always twist elections.

♪ ♪

narrator:
After nearly 200 years

of corrupt public elections,

what is known today
as the conclave is designed.

♪ ♪

The word "conclave,"

a Latin term meaning
"with a key,"

signifies that the cardinals
are locked in

to avoid the interference
of outside politics.

As of 1274,

papal elections
are held in secret.

- The cardinals would be
cut off from the world,

enclosed,
make their votes, vote again.

There would be that famous
white smoke at the end.

♪ ♪

narrator:
For the last 700 years,

papal elections have been held
the same way.

Cardinals are locked
in the Vatican

and vote again and again

until a 2/3 majority
is achieved.

♪ ♪

- And each round of balloting
is burned

so that nobody can see
who voted for whom.

♪ ♪

That's what generates
the smoke.

♪ ♪

narrator:
In the Middle Ages,

cardinals added a damp straw

to the burning ballots

to create the black smoke,

signifying that no pope
has been chosen.

The white smoke
that hails a new pope

was made by burning
the paper alone.

Today, chemical compounds
are added to the ballots

to color the smoke.

♪ ♪

Modern conclaves usually only
last for a few days...

♪ ♪

But in the 13th century,

they could go on for months.

♪ ♪

- In the 13th century,
bribery would be involved,

the rivalries of kings.

People were basically
stonewalling,

filibustering.

narrator: In 1292,

the cardinals assemble
to elect a new pope,

but warring factions
cannot reach the 2/3 majority,

and the conclave goes on
for a full two years.

- Without the pope,
Rome was a mess.

Marauders and robber gangs
wanted to dominate the city

and to a great extent did

without the pope functioning
as a--

as a sort of local king.

narrator:
With Rome in shambles

and no end to the conclave
in sight,

it looks as if the resignation
of one teenage pope

may have unraveled
St. Peter's legacy for good.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

narrator: In 1294,
the cardinals are determined

to renew the spiritual
supremacy of the papacy

by electing a pope
through the proper channels.

♪ ♪

Warring factions
are deadlocked,

which has left Rome
without a leader

and in dire shape.

Frustrated by the delay
and state of Rome,

a hermit monk named
Pietro Angelerio

writes to the conclave.

- He was an example

of these kinds of crazy guys
who live up a mountain

and live on beans,

and read nothing but
the Gospel.

narrator:
Angelerio warns the cardinals

that vengeance will fall
on them

if they continue
the stalemate.

Taking his letter
as a divine sign,

the cardinals decide
to elect him pope.

- In the 13th century,
you had a great succession

of reforming popes.

Politicians thought that this
is not how a pope should be.

So what they did
was elect a pope

who was as unworldly as you
could possibly hope for:

a hermit.

And they called him Celestine,
the--

the heavenly one.

♪ ♪

- Celestine V does not want
to be pope.

He'd rather be praying
off alone by himself,

and he goes to do this papacy
rather reluctantly.

- It's not super clear

that he even exactly knew
what was going on.

It's not clear how sharp
mentally he was.

- Celestine V
was just hopeless.

He couldn't run the church
at all.

narrator: After only
five months in office,

Celestine V announces
his retirement.

- And during that five months,

the French crown
manipulated him

to get all sorts of concessions

and control over more power,

and the Roman contingent
in the college of cardinals

became increasingly alarmed.

He was helped to retire
by his successor,

who was a pro-Roman pope,

Boniface VIII.

It was said that he whispered
through a hole

in the pope's cell
where he prayed,

and that he said he was
the voice of God

and told the pope to resign

so that he could be
elected pope in his stead.

- He made a vow
to become a monk

and simply living
in retirement

for the good of his health,

the only pope
who ever voluntarily did

before Benedict XVI.

- A couple of years before
Pope Benedict XVI resigns,

Pope Benedict took a trip,

and he laid his pallium

on the grave of Celestine V.

People didn't know it
at the time,

but that might have been
a signal,

because a year and a half
later,

he too would resign his papacy.

narrator: But despite
the peaceful nature

in which Celestine V resigns,

and because of the violence
and instability

surrounding the resignation
of Benedict IX

250 years earlier,

the new pope must make sure

that Celestine
is never heard from again.

♪ ♪

- After Celestine retired
and Boniface became the pope,

he felt that it was dangerous
to have two living popes.

- You can't have another pope
knocking about

and threatening the pope.

[horse neighing]

- [grunts]

narrator: Immediately after

Celestine leaves the Vatican,

Boniface has him attacked

and locked up.

♪ ♪

- He didn't want Celestine
talking to anybody.

He didn't want him to be able

to communicate
with his supporters,

so essentially put him
under house arrest

in order to protect
his own legitimacy as pope.

- And so Celestine dies
in captivity.

♪ ♪

narrator:
In the 13th century, however,

a retired pope
is not the only threat

to a sitting pope's power.

In a time when the lines

between church and state
are fluid,

kings are just as threatening
to papal power

as previous popes.

- There was always
a bit of a problem

as to who was in charge.

Was it the king,

or was it the pope?

♪ ♪

- So much of the maneuvering
and back-and-forthing

and jousting that goes on
with the papacy

has to do with the fact
that it was in Italy.

Italy is not a country yet.

Italy is basically
up for grabs.

The Normans grab part of it.

The Franks grab part of it.

The Germans grab part of it.

Italy is always contested,

so if you're gonna control
any major part of Italy,

you have to get the pope
on your side.

♪ ♪

- You want to raise an army?

You need the pope's blessing.

narrator:
Because of the volatile nature

of medieval European politics,

the papacy becomes dependent
on the surrounding monarchies

for stability,
and vice versa.

- The pope didn't have
an army.

He didn't have anything
other than moral persuasion

on his side,

and so what we see
the early popes doing

are making these alliances
with different secular leaders.

♪ ♪

narrator: At the end
of the 13th century,

the most powerful monarch
in Europe

is King Philip IV of France.

He had manipulated
Pope Celestine

into siphoning him
church money and land.

But after
Celestine's resignation,

the new pope
Boniface VIII

is not so easily manipulated.

- When Boniface VIII
became pope,

he saw the French influence
as something that had gone

way, way out of bounds,

and so he positioned himself
essentially

as the anti-France pope.

So Philip IV and Boniface

had this very real clash
of powers.

Boniface began to generate

some very,
very harsh language

about the power of the papacy.

Here's a letter that he wrote
to Philip IV of France.

He said, "Listen, son."

Literally,
that's how he begins it.

"Son,

"God has set us over kings
and kingdoms.

Let no one persuade you
that you have superiority."

So it is this
very explicit language

that says, the pope has control
over the king.

narrator: But King Philip
has an agenda,

and he does not intend
to let one insubordinate pope

stand in his way.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

narrator:
After the resignation

of his puppet Pope Celestine V
in 1294,

King Philip IV of France
is determined

to reassert his power
over the papacy.

But the new pope
Boniface VIII

refuses to give in
to the greedy monarch.

♪ ♪

- Philip IV
comes to the throne

at a time in which warfare
is being fought

by purchasing armies,

and he, like other monarchs,

needs more and more money.

- And the church
is very wealthy.

♪ ♪

narrator:
So when Boniface dies,

King Philip ensures
that a pope

who will give him
what he wants

is elected.

- He expressed very clearly
to the college of cardinals

that he preferred this
particular French candidate.

♪ ♪

It wasn't an easy election...

But ultimately the French side
was strong enough to win.

- A French prelate
who takes the name Clement V

becomes the pope.

♪ ♪

Philip actually asks them
to come to France

to crown him pope.

♪ ♪

- The popes, of course,
had been appointed in Rome

from the time of St. Peter.

- King Philip of France
has a very powerful hold

on Pope Clement V.

This is a weak man,

and he's intimidated by Philip.

- Clement's just notorious.

He just did
whatever he was asked.

Clement V
actually promised Philip

a flat-out portion
of the church tithe,

that it just went straight
into the royal coffers.

He also signed off
on the expulsion of Jews

as a danger to the church,

in knowledge that the wealth

was going to go to Philip.

That's very blatant.

♪ ♪

narrator: By 1309,

King Philip
has turned Pope Clement V

into a pawn
of the French crown,

and in an attempt to solidify
his power over the church,

the French king
lays the groundwork

for what will be the papacy's
most notorious resignation

by undermining
its very foundation.

♪ ♪

- Peter is buried
on the Vatican hill,

and St. Peter's Basilica
is built over his tomb.

♪ ♪

Popes are seen
as inheriting that charisma

and that role,

standing in for the apostle.

His tomb is the foundation
charter for the papacy.

♪ ♪

narrator: But King Philip
demands that Pope Clement

leave the legacy
of St. Peter in Rome

and move the papacy to operate
under his thumb

in France.

♪ ♪

- The pope eventually
will end up

setting up quarters
at Avignon.

♪ ♪

- Rather than being
in a landscape

where the pope
could actually act

as an independent power

and make alliances with anyone
that he chose,

he was now firmly entrenched
in one country,

clearly under the control
of one king.

That was what warped
the papacy.

It's a little bit
as though Washington, D.C.

suddenly upped and said,

"Well, now Manhattan
is gonna be the capital

of the entire United States."

narrator:
For the first time

since the invention
of the conclave,

the one with true power
over the church

is not the one chosen by God

but a power-hungry monarch
instead.

- It's the dream
of all the great rulers

of medieval Europe
to control the papacy.

Philip actually got the papacy
into France.

Once you've done that,

the pope can become a puppet

of what you want to get done.

♪ ♪

- That is a moment
for the church

that becomes very troubling.

You're abdicating the seat

of where the church
is supposed to lie.

You leave the bones of Peter
behind,

and you're not moving them.

You're moving
to this other place.

What you're saying is,
is that maybe

this isn't as important
to the church

as we have thought it was
previously.

And that becomes
a really dangerous situation

for holding together
not just the papacy

but holding together beliefs
and tenets of the church.

narrator: Leaving Rome
costs the papacy

its religious authority
throughout Europe.

♪ ♪

But once the church becomes
established in France,

Pope Clement V finds
that despite

being hundreds of miles
from the bones of St. Peter,

there are certain benefits
to the new location.

- It was very clearly a time

when they had given up
their spiritual authority

in order to enjoy
material prosperity.

The college of cardinals,

which also became centered
at Avignon after this,

was absolutely notorious
for luxurious living

and for having banquets
that went on for days

and for spending church money

in order to take care
of themselves.

- But the Avignon papacy
worked.

It's in southern France.

It's much more central
to Europe

than the Italian peninsula.

It was efficient.
It had a decent bureaucracy.

There was actually a good case
for the Avignon papacy.

Big problem, though:

it doesn't have the tomb
of Peter,

and what's the point of a pope

who doesn't sit at the tomb
of Peter?

♪ ♪

narrator:
Despite being miles

from the spiritual foundation
of the papacy,

Pope Clement V remains
in France

and continues to lead
the church under King Philip

until they both die in 1314.

♪ ♪

His successor continues
his papacy in Avignon,

as does the pope after him.

- The papacy was
more or less captured

by the king of France.

For a long period of time,

it was completely
the instrument

of the French crown,

and almost every cardinal
who was appointed

to the college of cardinals
during this time

was French.

narrator: By 1347,

it appears that the papacy
has become

an arm of the French crown
for good.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

narrator: In the mid-1360s,

the papacy has left Rome

and been operating
in Avignon, France,

for almost 60 years.

♪ ♪

At this point, the cardinals
are almost all French

and have become accustomed
to the luxurious lifestyle

afforded to them
as a thank-you

for the church's loyalty
to the French crown.

But outside the walls
of the lush papal castle...

♪ ♪

The rest of Europe
is a wasteland,

setting the stage
for what will be

the last papal resignation
for 600 years.

- The black death.

This contagious,
dreadful disease

devastated Europe.

♪ ♪

- Pretty much the entire
population was wiped out.

♪ ♪

narrator: In the wake
of the plague,

the papacy is forced to
reevaluate its role in Europe

and face dire conditions
in the city it abandoned.

♪ ♪

- With the absence
of the papacy from Rome,

the upkeep of the city
began to fail.

A great deal of the upkeep
of Rome

came out of the pope's coffers.

Now this was all going
to France.

Law and order became very,
very shaky.

You have a rise in pickpockets
and muggings,

because there is no king
in Rome,

there is no emperor in Rome,

and now there's no pope
in Rome.

- The Romans learned,
somewhat reluctantly,

that the city depended
on the presence of the papacy

to flourish,

to become anything more
than just a bit of a wreck.

narrator: Fed up
with the sheltered confines

of Avignon,

Pope Urban V decides

that the papacy has lost sight
of its spiritual purpose

and must return to the bones
of St. Peter in Rome.

♪ ♪

- Urban V,
a reform-minded pope,

is appalled by the luxury.

He was appalled

by the self-indulgence
in Avignon.

He announced to the cardinals

that they could only have
one course at dinner

rather than their usual
ten-course banquet.

And it had increasingly
become clear

that as long as the papacy

was tied to the fortunes
of any country

that the ability to act
as a spiritual leader

would be seriously compromised.

He was convicted
that the papacy needed

to return to its home
in Rome...

But it's not
an easy transition.

♪ ♪

narrator: The cardinals,
who had become

used to their indulgent
lifestyle in Avignon,

did not appreciate
the rundown conditions

of the fallen city.

But Pope Urban V
and his successor,

another Frenchman,
Gregory XI,

remained firm in their
spiritual conviction

that the papacy belongs
at the tomb of St. Peter.

- There is a lot of resentment

about their having to sort of
come down in the world,

which I think just shows

what a cushioned,
isolated existence

they were living in Avignon.

That you have a Europe that's
been devastated by the plague,

that the entire
social structure

of Europe has changed,

that in some places

90% of the population
has died,

but the primary concern
of the college of cardinals

is that they're not getting
enough courses for dinner.

So you definitely
have a sense in which

during the Avignon papacy,

it has gotten so out of touch

with what the church
is supposed to be doing.

narrator: When Pope Gregory XI
dies in 1378,

many of the cardinals prepare
to move back to Avignon,

but the frustrated Romans
call for a sign

that the papacy has freed
itself from the French crown

and will return to
the principles of the church

they once knew.

♪ ♪

- The Roman population,
who were always very volatile

and who regularly intervened
in papal elections,

after a long string
of French popes,

were determined to have
an Italian pope.

narrator:
The conclave of 1378

is met with angry mobs
of Romans

chanting outside the Vatican,

demanding a renewed
papal investment

in their beloved city.

And though the cardinals miss

their extravagant
French lifestyle,

they worry what might happen

if the Romans' demands
are not met.

- And so an Italian pope,
Urban VI, was elected.

♪ ♪

But he seems to have been
unhinged

by becoming the pope.

Instantly reveals himself
to be a megalomaniac,

locking up people
who didn't agree with him,

so instead of being
a unifying figure,

he becomes a symbol
of division.

♪ ♪

narrator: Half of
the cardinals stand behind

the maniacal
Pope Urban VI in Rome...

♪ ♪

While the other half panic
and flee back to Avignon,

where they elect another pope,

Clement VII.

♪ ♪

The once-universal church
is now split.

♪ ♪

Catholics are torn
between two different popes

running two functioning
church bureaucracies

from two different places.

♪ ♪

- There was an election
of a pope,

and some people didn't like
that election,

so some people say,

"We're gonna set up a church
someplace else."

And so this becomes
a very big battle.

- So in solving one problem,

getting the pope
back to Rome,

you've created
a much worse one.

- We went through a long period

when there were always
at least two different people

claiming to be pope.

narrator: This unprecedented
break in the church

is what Catholics refer to as
the Western schism.

- You've got popes saying,
"I am pope,"

and some popes are classed
as antipopes,

because other people
don't recognize them,

but who is the antipope?

Who is the real pope?

♪ ♪

narrator:
For nearly 40 years,

the church is divided.

And Catholics
are forced to choose

the true heir
to St. Peter's legacy.

♪ ♪

- Where is the place
that we are centered?

That needs to flow
from the pope.

What do you do
if you have two popes?

Then it becomes a real problem
for the church,

and you've got to
sort that out.

♪ ♪

- This schism made a mockery
of the whole idea of the pope

and the vicar of Christ

being the successor of Peter.

narrator:
If there is one St. Peter,

he can only have one legacy,

held by only one man.

Two popes become a clear sign

that the spiritual source
of papal power

has been abandoned.

- Having two popes
is impossible.

It's shattering
for Christendom.

Reformers say, "We've got to do
something about this."

narrator: With the future
of the church

hanging in the balance,

in 1415,

cardinals on both sides
look for a solution.

- They convene a general
council at Constance,

and the popes involved
are summoned

and either deposed
or invited to resign.

♪ ♪

narrator: Both the Roman pope
Gregory XII

and the Avignon pope
Benedict XII

are forced to resign.

♪ ♪

In 1415,

Pope Gregory XII
will be the last pope

to leave the office alive...

until 2013,

when Pope Benedict XVI

makes a shocking announcement.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

- The last time
a pope resigned

happened just about
600 years ago.

That would be
Pope Gregory XII

back in 1415.

♪ ♪

narrator:
Throughout the history

of the Catholic Church,

only four popes
have ever resigned,

and Pope Benedict XVI

is the only one who has ever
done it peacefully

and of his own volition.

♪ ♪

But what does it mean
to have two living popes?

How can two men
hold one legacy of St. Peter?

♪ ♪

[bell tolling]

♪ ♪

- Everyone was surprised.

Catholics were surprised.
Non-Catholics were surprised.

It was a strong contrast
to John Paul II,

who insisted on remaining pope

until his dying gasp.

narrator: In 2005,

after reigning for 27 years,

Pope John Paul II passed away

after a long and public battle
with Parkinson's disease.

- In a way,
the act of resignation

was a devastating comment

on the last five or six years
of his predecessor.

[cheers and applause]

A flight in the face

of the whole theology
of the papacy

as it had evolved
in modern times,

the notion that John Paul
had propagated

that the papacy was a cross

which was laid
on your shoulders,

and you could not shake it off.

Benedict said,
"Well, it's a job,

"and if you can't do it,

you should let
somebody else try."

narrator: By resigning
in the face of old age,

Pope Benedict XVI
has made a clear statement

about the divinity
of the papal office.

- But I think that was
a reminder to everybody

in any position of authority
or power,

that it's not just about me.

It's actually about,

am I being effective?

Am I really serving
the community

and serving the church
properly?

- What Benedict did
in resigning

was to make it easier
for successive popes

to be able to say,
"I'm 80 years old.

"I'm not gonna stay

until I fall down dead
in this office."

That's thinking more
like a CEO than anything else.

- Alighting
from the helicopter,

Francis thanks the pilots,

then, seeing his predecessor,

goes toward him
to embrace him.

This is a historic moment.

- There's not
any kind of precedent

for Benedict's resignation.

He really did do it
voluntarily

and of his own behalf.

♪ ♪

narrator:
Today, Pope Benedict XVI

lives in a quiet apartment
in the Vatican.

He has passed the holy office

peacefully down
to Pope Francis,

leaving the power struggles
of the past behind.

- The biggest gift that ever
happened to the papacy

is Pope Benedict XVI resigning,

because he allowed the papacy
not to become a trap.

♪ ♪

- In terms of looking
to the future,

as any pope
begins to get older

or begins to have
any difficulties,

the question of resignation

will be on the horizon.

♪ ♪

- Francis has also
talked about resigning,

and one, you don't know
how serious he is.

He's a mischievous man,

and he's got an agenda,

and he's an old man,

and I think he'll want to see
that agenda out first.

But it may be
that he has learned the lesson

of watching John Paul II
collapse into helplessness.

It would be very interesting
if popes now said,

"Right, I've done my bit.

Someone else can have a go."

♪ ♪

narrator: In announcing
his voluntary retirement,

Pope Benedict has shaken
the foundation of the papacy.

If Pope Francis retires
as well,

a 2,000-year-old institution

could be fundamentally
changed forever.

♪ ♪

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