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The Pope
said he was resigning for the "good of the Church"
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Pope at
general audience - 13 February The Pope said he was resigning for the
"good of the Church"
Pope
Benedict XVI has thanked the public for their "love and prayers", as
he makes his first public appearance since announcing his resignation.
The Pope
was cheered by crowds as he entered and began speaking, at a weekly audience in
a hall at the Vatican.
He said he
resigned "for the good of the Church", aware of his own declining
spiritual and physical strength.
Later he
will hold what is expected to be his last public Mass, for Ash Wednesday, in St
Peter's Basilica.
The
85-year-old will continue with his diary as usual until the day he officially
retires at the end of February, Vatican officials say.
By the end
of Lent, in six weeks' time, there is expected to be a new Pope.
The Pope is
holding his weekly general audience at its traditional venue, the audience hall
in the Vatican.
Thousands
of people gathered in the hall to greet him, giving him a standing ovation as
he arrived, and cheering as he began and finished speaking.
The BBC's
David Willey in Rome says he looked tired and drawn.
Pope
Benedict thanked them for their warm greeting and their sympathy.
"Thank
you for the love and prayer with which you have accompanied me... Keep praying
for me, for the Church and for the future pope," he said.
He said he
was aware of the gravity of his decision to resign but also of his declining
strength, adding that he was certain the Church would sustain him with prayer.
"I did
this in full liberty for the good of the Church," he added.
.Pope
Benedict XVI
.Pope
Benedict XVI in January 2013 in the Vatican
.At 78, one of the oldest new popes in
history when elected in 2005
.Born in Germany in 1927, joined Hitler
Youth during WWII and was conscripted as an anti-aircraft gunner - but deserted
.As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, spent 24
years in charge of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - once known as
the Holy Office of the Inquisition
.A theological conservative with
uncompromising views on homosexuality and women priests
The
afternoon Mass has been relocated. The pontiff had been scheduled to celebrate
Ash Wednesday at the small Sant' Anselmo church, then lead a procession to
Santa Sabina Basilica on Rome's Aventine Hill.
The Vatican
said the change to St Peter's was to accommodate the crowds, but it will also
save the Pope the effort of the procession.
"It
will be an important concelebration, and the last led by the Holy Father in St
Peter's," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.
Pope
Benedict will anoint the foreheads of the faithful with ashes, in a service
attended by cardinals, bishops, monks, friars and pilgrims.
Ash
Wednesday begins Lenten season, a period of penitence before Easter -
celebrated this year by western Christians at the end of March and beginning of
April.
The Vatican
holds a Lenten retreat from 17 to 24 February. The Pope will hold one more
Wednesday audience on 27 February, again in St Peter's Square.
At 78,
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was one of the oldest popes in history at his
election.
He took the
helm as one of the fiercest storms the Catholic Church has faced in decades -
the scandal of child sex abuse by priests - was breaking.
The pontiff
said in his Monday's statement: "After having repeatedly examined my
conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to
an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine
ministry."
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