Michael O'Hearn: "The early ecclesiology seems to have held that once elected, a pontiff cannot resign or be deposed except in cases of apostasy"
I have read the letters of your piety , in which you have requested me to make known to you the events of my times relating to myself, and to give an account of that most impious heresy of the Arians , in consequence of which I have endured these sufferings, and also of the manner of the death of Arius . With two out of your three demands I have readily undertaken to comply, and have sent to your Godliness what I wrote to the Monks; from which you will be able to learn my own history as well as that of the heresy . But with respect to the other matter, I mean the death, I debated with myself for a long time, fearing lest any one should suppose that I was exulting in the death of that man. But yet, since a disputation which has taken place among you concerning the heresy , has issued in this question, whether Arius died after previously communicating with the Church ; I therefore was necessarily desirous of giving an account of his death, as thinking that the question woul
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Please reflect on the title. What interests me from a legal perspective is how the doctrine of papal resignation develops over time. The early ecclesiology seems to have held that once elected, a pontiff cannot resign or be deposed except in cases of apostasy, but few and far between. This helps to gain proper understanding of what Pope Benedict may have meant by the “munus” as a forever character and gift received at acceptance of the responsibilities of office.