Over on the Huffington Post, Andreas Widmer, Acton’s Research Fellow in Entrepreneurship, suggests that Pope pleted the work of John Paul and then laid the groundwork for the New Evangelization but recognized that that project should be headed by someone else:

Before we move on, we need to stop and reflect on what just happened — not just in the past seven years, but the last 70 years. Upon closer examination of the facts, observers will see that this was a strategic decision, and not one done in a moment of weakness or despair.

Every papacy has a “theme” or an “aim.” John Paul II’s pontificate was focused on realigning the implementation of Vatican II munism and materialism. By contrast Benedict’s aim, I believe, was to bring the Church to the doorsteps of what Catholic theologian and thought leader George Weigel calls the next chapter in Church history: Evangelical Catholicism. In order to achieve this goal, Benedict needed to finish the implementation of Vatican II and set the stage for this new chapter in Church life.

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(Via: Mirror of Justice)