me.” Other theories will no doubt swirl around the Vatican in the days and weeks ahead, just as they did following the death of Pope John Paul I in 1978, 33 days after his election. Already there is speculation that something was about to come out about Benedict’s past. The Vatican will just as predictably dismiss such notions with contempt. But they are understandable all the same, for the transcendental importance of what Benedict has done cannot be overstated. Emerging from St Peter’s Basilica, Julia Rochester, from London, who described herself as a lapsed Catholic, was still turning over the implications of the Pope’s resignation. “If you’re God’s chosen one, how do you choose not be chosen?” she mused. It is a question many practising Catholics will be asking of their priests in the weeks ahead. In his first speech as Pope – humbly disclaiming his fitness for the task – Benedict said: “I am consoled by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and how to act, even with insufficient tools.” At some point in the last eight years, it would seem, he ceased to believe that was true.