Pope Francis tells interviewer he's going to quit

A Te Deum will be sung today -- or should be -- in Traditional Catholic chapels and mass centres throughout the world, following the revelation by Pope Francis that, after only two  years sitting on the throne of St. Peter, he feels that another two years is about enough, so will be stepping down.

In a wide-ranging interview with Joaquín López-Dóriga of the Mexican media company El Noticiero, the Pope said, "I have the feeling that my pontificate will be brief: four or five years; I do not know, even two or three. Two have already passed. It is a somewhat vague sensation. Maybe it's like the psychology of the gambler who convinces himself he will lose so he won’t be disappointed and if he wins, is happy. I do not know. But I feel that the Lord has placed me here for a short time, and nothing more."

Vague sensations are nothing new to Pope Francis, but he seems clear enough in seeing a precedent in the purported resignation of Benedict XVI. He told the interviewer that "an institutional door has been opened", through which he is free to walk when the next sensation strikes him.

Assuming that Benedict XVI is still alive -- he seems quite well for a man who resigned "for health reasons" -- when Francis steps down, the Roman Catholic Church will then have not one "Pope Emeritus" but two. Depending on the longevity of those two, the number could grow to three or four or... God only knows.

Some have suggested that Francis can't really be the pope, not because his predecessor is still alive, but because no pope, guided and protected by the Holy Spirit, could possibly preach and teach the heresies which Francis utters. God only knows that, too. We mere mortals -- the remnant who cling to the Faith of our Fathers -- can only pray that God will deliver His Church from the present plague of bad prelates.