Pope John Paul II. abdicates

What if Karol Wojtyla abdicates as pope before his condition worsened ? He allegedly had plans to abdicate since the 90es. He could have been the first modern pope to do so. Would the reactions differ from the reactions regarding Benedict's abdication ?
 
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What if Karol Wojtyla abdicates as pope before his condition worsened ? He allegedly had plans to abdicate since the 90es. He could have been the first modern pope to do so. Would the reactions differ from the reactions regarding Benedict's abdication ?
Any thoughts ?How would the interreligious relations be affected without John Paul's dialogue with other mayor faiths in relation with his conciliation policy ? Who could have succeeded him ?
 
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Actually I think the reaction would have been similar to the reaction to Benedict's abdication. Actually John Paul II's long terminal illness made people accept that with modern medicine, people can now become ineffective due to aging long before they die. The Catholic Church had already set an age limit on some of the duties of Cardinals, and having Popes abdicate when they started fading was a logical next step.

His successor would still have been Ratzinger/ Benedict XIV so not much would have changed.
 
It would really under cut a lot of his own teaching on aging illness and death. A couple more years of the Ratzinger papacy or whomever (He was always the clear choice) could do wonders for the Church during the later, more inactive years of JP2.
 
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