Is it a resignation or an abdication?

According to CNN:

When Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday that he would step down at the end of the month, an interesting debate sprang up: Do popes resign or abdicate?

This is a rare situation; the last pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415.

To read the entire article on CNN, please click here.

Benedetto Cardinal Gaetano strongly advised Pope Celestine V to issue a constitution, either before or simultaneously with his abdication, declaring the legality of a papal resignation and the competency of the College of Cardinals to accept it. Ten days after Celestine’s resignation the cardinals went into conclave in the Castel Nuovo at Naples, and on the 24th of December, 1294, by a majority of votes elected Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani, who took the name of Boniface VIII.

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Also of interest:

October 11 – He dared step into the gap during the crisis

September 7 – The Outrage of Anagni