On Monday February 11, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI resigned, saying he no longer had the mental or physical strength to carry on. Though no pope has resigned in almost 600 years, calls for Pope Benedict's resignation has been tossed around ever since 2010 when revelations about his conduct regarding a German priest who had molested numerous young boys prompted critics to call for the pope's resignation.
At that time, The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan wrote :
He did not report the priest to the civil authorities, he merely sent the priest to therapy, the priest was subsequently convicted of child abuse, but after his prison sentence was allowed to continue in the priesthood until the past week.
"So when will this pope resign?" Sullivan asked.
Sullivan now has an answer to his question; Pope Benedict XVI stepped down today - February 11, 2013.
It's Now Time Place Your Bets
The really fascinating thing about all this is that a website (paddypower.com) that took bets on Pope Benedict's resignation in 2010 (and placed the odds that he would resign at 3-1) is now accepting bets on everything related to Pope Benedict's resignation:
- Who will the next Pope will? At this writing odds were 3/1 it will be Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana
- What country the next Pope will be from? At this writing odds were 5/4 he will be from Italy.
- What will the name of the next Pope be? At this writing odds were 7/2 that it will be Peter.
- What will the length of the Papal Conclave be? At this writing odds were 2/1 it will be one day.
These odds change quickly. To get in on the action just click here.
Leave it to a secular outlet to make money by quantify the odds about what will happen now that Pope Benedict XVI has retired.
As an aside, paddypower.com now has the odds at 100/1 that Prince Harry's next girlfriend will be Lauren Pope. Gamblers will certainly bet on anything.
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