Feb. 7 – Feb. 23, 2013, Current Events Lesson Plan
Current Event:
Pope Benedict XVI recently stunned the world when he announced that he would step down from his role as leader of the Roman Catholic Church on February 28, 2013. Benedict was elected pope in 2005, after the death of Pope John Paul II. Born Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict was 78 years old when he was elected pope. The pontiff stated that his age and deteriorating strength no longer permitted him to perform his papal duties. The pope is elected for life. The last pope to resign from the papacy was Gregory XII, who left office under pressure in 1415 to end what is known as the Great Schism–a period of civil war within the church when three different men each claimed to be pope. The last voluntary resignation by a pope was even longer ago, when Celestine V abdicated in 1294.
After Benedict’s resignation takes effect, cardinals will gather at a meeting called a conclave in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City to elect a new pope. Church officials hope to elect a new pope by Easter (March 31) 2013.
Objective:
The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church and its 1.2 billion members around the world. Roman Catholics believe that Jesus established the office of pope with the apostle Peter in the first century A.D. Except for brief periods, there has been an unbroken line of popes since Peter. To elect a pope, cardinals from around the world are called to a conclave at Vatican City. At the conclave, cardinals under the age of 80 write the name of one preference on a blank ballot. After all the votes are submitted, three tellers (counters of the votes) read each ballot. The last teller reads the results aloud to the cardinals. The cardinals continue to vote until two-thirds of them agree on a new pope. If no pope has been elected by a two-thirds majority after a certain number of ballots, the cardinals may agree to elect by a simple majority. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles explore the life of Pope Benedict XVI and other popes.
Words to know:
• Benedict XVI
• Cardinal
• Christianity
• Easter
• Jesus Christ
• John Paul II
• Pope
• Roman Catholic Church
• Saint Peter
• Sistine Chapel
• Vatican City
Discussion Topics:
1. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest body of Christians in the world. Ask your students what else they know about Christianity. (They might say Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified; Christians believe in the truth of the Bible; Christianity is the largest religion in the world.)
2. Christianity is one of the world’s major religions. Ask your students to name other major world religions. (They might say Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Taoism.)
3. Have your students debate the topic, “Church and state should be separated.”
4. Ask your students to use the World Book’s Timelines feature to create a timeline of the life of Pope Benedict XVI.