Will Pope Benedict XVI resign due to the recent uproar over the handling of child abuse cases in the Catholic church?
Last week, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power cut the odds of a resignation from 12 to 1 to 3 to 1 following a "cascade of bets." The odds stayed the same on Thursday despite media reports that in the late 1990s.
"The dark clouds of clerical abuse scandals show no sign of abating and recent reports from Germany are surely a little too close to home for the Pope," Power's company said in a statement on March 16.
Child abuse scandals in Ireland, the United States, Germany, and elsewhere, have wreaked havoc on the Church's reputation and finances, with the U.S. Church paying some $2 billion in settlements.
There are very few examples of clear papal resignations down through the centuries. Pope Celestine V who abdicated in 1294, and Pope Gregory XII who stepped down in 1415 are the best-known examples.
It was Celestine V who created the official procedure that allows a pope to resign. According to the Code of Canon Law, “If it should so happen that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that he makes the resignation freely and that it be duly manifested, but not that it be accepted by anyone.”
Bets on Arinze
That means that pope must make the decision to resign on his own, without outside pressure or fraud. Once the decision is made, the pope must give his resignation to the College of Cardinals, which will accept the resignation.
In earlier developments, the bookie also said it had cut the odds on Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze becoming the next Pontiff to 4 to 1, after what it called a significant gamble. The firm said Arinze was now the clear favorite.
Cardinal Angelo Scola of Italy, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras, and Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, all on 8 to 1 were next most likely to succeed.
