Pope Paul VI planned to resign after reaching the age of 80, and was
dissuaded from that step by Vatican officials only after his most
trusted aide left the Roman Curia, according to a Vatican Insider
report.
Gianni Gennari writes that Pope Paul decided to retire not only because
of exhaustion and failing health, but also because of criticism he had
received when he ruled that other prelates should resign upon reaching
the age of 80.
Preparing to step down, Gennari writes, Pope Paul named his right-hand
man, Archbishop Giovanni Benelli, to become Archbishop of Florence, and
almost immediately thereafter elevated him to the College of Cardinals.
But with Benelli no longer in Rome, other Vatican officials denounced
“rumors” of an impending papal resignation, and eventually persuaded
Paul VI to abandon his plan.
The Pope died less than a year after his
80th birthday.
Gennari wrote about the planned resignation after L’Osservatore Romano
published an article, timed for the 33rd anniversary of the late
Pontiff’s death (on August 6), discussing the Benedictine spirituality
of Paul VI.
In fact, according to the Vatican Insider report, the Pope
had planned, after resignation, to live out his remaining days in the
Benedictine monastery in Einseidein, Switzerland.