Forced removal of Pope nearly impossible despite call for resignation from within Vatican

Child sex abuse allegationshaveprompted pointed accusations of a coverupwithinthe Catholic Church but also intensescrutiny over the actions of Pope Francis, with aformer Vatican ambassador to Washington calling for his resignation.

Francis has given no indication he has any plans to step down, and the decision to leave the papacy couldbe made only through his own volition,as there are effectivelyno other measures in which a pope can be ousted, say some theologians.

"There are only two circumstances that can lead to him no longer being pope, and one would be his death and then the other would be his free resignation," said Monsignor JasonGray, a canon lawyer and pastor based in Illinois.

The Catholic Church has recently comeunder fire following the release of agrand jury report that claimedhundreds of Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvaniacommitted sexual abuse against children sincethe1940s.

Powers of the pontiff

In the wake of the grand jury report, Archbishop Carlo MariaVigano, the former Vatican ambassador to Washington, called for the Pope's resignation.In an 11-page letter released to the Catholic media,Viganoaccused Francisof having known of allegations of sex abuse by a prominentU.S. cardinal, TheodoreMcCarrick, for years andcalled on the Popetoseta good example and resign.

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The Pope has said he will not respond to the allegations, and Vigano has provided no evidence to substantiate the accusation.

But the1983 Code of Canon Law,sets out rules and obligations for the Catholic clergy and faithful, includingthe powers of the pontiff.

Canon 331, for example, states that by thevirtueof his office, the pope "possesses supreme, full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he is always able to exercise freely."

This means, quite simply, that the pope is the supreme authority in the Catholic Church, said Gray.

'The First See is judged by no one'

Meanwhile, Canon 1404 states:"The First See is judged by no one." Based on that, "the short answer is that there is no authority in the Church that can order or compel the Pope to resign," Gray said.

And that is true even if the pope were to become severelyincapacitated, either through illness, or age, said Edward Peters, aprofessor of canon law at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

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"There is an old saying, "The Church knows how to deal with a live pope, and she knows how to deal with a dead pope. But a sick pope, that is real trouble,'" Peters said.

MassimoFaggioli, a professor of theology and religious studies atVillanovaUniversity in Pennsylvania, said that John Paul II was incapacitated in the last months of his life, and it waswell known that hispersonal secretary was making decisions on his behalf.

'The institution can run out of luck'

But in general,popes have died in office before the papacy had to deal with "some very significant obstacles" in the pontiff'shealth or behaviour, Faggioli said.

Pope Benedict was aware of this risk when he decided to resign because of his declining health, Faggiolisaid.

"He knew the institution can run out of luck," he said.

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If a pope does decide to resign, then, according to Canon 332,"it is required for validity that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested."

So, "if there is a reasonable doubt that the resignation of the pope has been made not in freedom by the popethen, in theory, according to the law of the Church, it is not valid," Faggioli said.

Acoupd'etatin the making?

But a pope couldconclude he must leave office for the good of the Churchif media coverageandpublic perception of the pontiff becomes toonegative, he said.

Some observers, includingFaggioli,have stated thatVigano'sletter was more about conservativeopposition to Francis's liberalization of the Church than his concern aboutabuse coverups.

Faggioli suspects Viganowas attemptingto engender public antipathy for the Pope that would effectively force him out.

"That had all the characteristics of a coup d'etat. Not just asking the Pope to resign but also publishing that while the Pope is out of Rome, right in the middle of the summer."

The only way, it seems, that a pope could lose his authority, is if he is determined to have committed heresy. According to the Code of Canon law,heresy is defined as "the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth that must be believed by divine and Catholic faith."

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"There is a sense that a person does lose their office by defecting from the faith,"Graysaid."Now, the problem is when we talk about amechanism,there's no mechanism to provide for that."

Since canon law doesn't specifywho would determine whether the pope has committedheresy but does state that the pontiff is the highest authority, not to be judged by anyone, the question of how he would be removed is a bit of a grey zone, says Peters.

Still, in a 2016 post on his popular blog on canon law, Peters cited others who suggest a general council of bishops could make that determination andthe pope would automatically lose power.

"However difficult it might be to determine whether a pope has so fallen, such a catastrophe ... would result in the loss of papal office," Peters wrote.

With files from Reuters