Benedict XVI’s resignation and its impact on the institution of the Catholic Church

Abstract

The main problem of this article is Benedict XVI resignation from papal office and possible consequences of this issue for Catholic Church as an institution. Article is divided into three parts. The first part reconstructed basic historical facts connected with the resignation of Benedict XVI. On the second part, reconstructed the external interpretation of resignation. The third part described the resignation problem, where interpreter in the context of secularization theory. The article author makes an attempt to find the answer for two questions: (1) how will Benedict XVI’s resignation affect the Church as an institutional model, its tradition and doctrine?; (2) will the abdication of Benedict XVI weaken the papal legitimacy for leadership in the Church?