Pope Emeritus Benedict resigned, somewhat shockingly, in February 2013. He did so earlier than he initially intended because he wanted his successor to be able to attend a major Roman Catholic festival in Brazil that was moved up one year to make room for the World Cup in Brazil this summer. So, basically, the Pope resigned because of the World Cup. Soccer is finally evening the score after all that interference in 1986.
Benedict told his private secretary in December 2012 that he planned on resigning the following February in order to allow his successor to attend the World Youth Day gathering in Rio. Following Benedict's resignation, Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was named the 266th Pope, taking the name Francis. All worked according to Benedict's plan and Pope Francis attended the festival last July. Now we just need to figure out what kind of salacious pictures Argentina has of God.
Pope Benedict resigned early to avoid clash with World Cup [Telegraph]
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