Can the pope resign?
Yes, a Pope may resign. No one has to accept the resignation. The vacancy would be filled by normal procedures (voting). No One Must Accept Resignation According to Canon 332 of Church Law, when a Pope resigns, since he is Supreme Pontiff, no one has to accept the resignation. The Canon reads: “If it should happen that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that he makes the resignation freely and that it be duly manifested, but not that it be accepted by anyone.” Historic Resignations Several Popes have resigned including Benedict IX (1033-44), Gregory VI (1044-46), Celestine V (1294) and most recently Gregory XII (1406-15). Ability to Resign Formally Established by Boniface in 1294 Boniface VIII (1294-1303) who became Pope after Celestine V’s resignation, decreed: “Whereas some curious persons, arguing on things of no great expediency, and rashly seeking, against the teaching of the Apostle, to know more than it is meet to know, have seemed, with little for
