His faculties were failing. He was a blindingly brilliant guy (don't care about anybody's thoughts on organized religion, read his work and tell me otherwise) - I think losing this made it impossible for him to proceed. I didn't like it and wish it didn't happen, but it's more ethical for him to step down than to let one of the subordinates use him to their own ends.
Why did Pope Benedict resign?
Why wasn't this seen as a grave derelict of duties?
Why would he just abandon the responsibility put on him by his peers, and presumably from the religious point of view, from god?
His faculties were failing. He was a blindingly brilliant guy (don't care about anybody's thoughts on organized religion, read his work and tell me otherwise) - I think losing this made it impossible for him to proceed. I didn't like it and wish it didn't happen, but it's more ethical for him to step down than to let one of the subordinates use him to their own ends.