Pizzas galore!

Nancy Reyes,
Pawhuska, Oklahoma

For Church’s sake

THERE should be no fixed retirement age, but a pope could resign for the good of the Church.

James Foley,
JLFoley@anselm.edu

Fixed term

POPES are elected by cardinals in conclave. Perhaps, like other appointees subject to an electoral process, it could be for a fixed term. The length of it would be the subject of much discussion, no doubt, but a shorter rather than longer stint might be more suited to the fluidity of contemporary societies.

Ken Wood,
Exeter

Place your bets

A FIXED retirement age, as your editorial points out (February 3), could lead to a perfectly healthy pope being forced out while a younger, more frail man could remain.

My main concern, however, is in reading your published odds for the favourites to suceed. Surely you’re not preparing us for the new TV reality show Pope Idol? I feel a Dave Allen sketch coming on where each applicant has to win over the voters with a punchy liturgy during Mass or a lenient penance after confession.

John McVey,
Glasgow

Inspirational

THIS is a rude and somewhat impertinent question. Those proposing this absurd notion would no doubt argue that someone who is physically weak cannot possibly be expected to exert the necessary influence on those seeking his guidance. They couldn’t be farther from the truth.

During his lifetime the Pope, elected by his peers and a spiritual father for billions of Catholics worldwide, has inspired generations with his love for humanity and his refusal to compromise his deep-held beliefs. He is loved and revered in equal measure, but not only for his unquestionably decent soul and history of generous contributions to mankind. Those who look upon him now see a man who is frail and in ill-health, but that does not make Catholics despair: it inspires.

Slav Sikora-Sikorski,
Bromley, Kent

Make up your mind

I AM not a Roman Catholic, but you cannot say that a pope is elected by God’s will one minute, and allow men to retire him the next.

Roger Staten,
Epsom, Surrey

For that matter . . .

SHOULD the kings and queens of England have a fixed retirement age?

Christophe Wu,
Taiwan