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Franco Origlia / Getty Images
Pope Benedict XVI leads the Ash Wednesday service at St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday.
A capacity crowd in St Peter's Basilica gave Pope Benedict a thunderous standing ovation on Wednesday night at an emotional last public Mass before he stands down at the end of the month.
"Thank you. Now, let's return to prayer," the 85-year-old pontiff said, bringing an end to several minutes of applause that clearly moved him.
In an unusual gesture, bishops took off their distinctive hats in a sign of respect and a few of them wept.
Earlier Wednesday, the pope explained that he had reached his decision to resign after prayer led him to conclude it would be for the best for the Catholic Church.
"I have done this in full freedom for the good of the church, after much prayer and having examined my conscience before God," Benedict said at his weekly general audience speech, according to an English transcript from the Holy See press office at the Vatican.
On Monday, when he revealed the news publicly, Benedict, 85, said that the papacy required "strength of mind and body," and that his health had deteriorated.
Later, the Vatican revealed that the pope had a pacemaker installed 10 years ago.
In Wednesday's remarks ahead of the Mass, the pontiff said he felt uplifted by the outpouring of support that followed his surprising resignation announcement.
"Thank all of you for the love and for the prayers with which you have accompanied me," he told the packed general audience hall. "In these days, which have not been easy for me, I have felt almost physically the power of prayer -- your prayers."
Benedict also said he had made his decision "knowing full well the seriousness of this act, but also realizing that I am no longer able to carry out the Petrine ministry with the strength which it demands."
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told Reuters that on the pope's last day in office, Feb. 28, Benedict would receive cardinals in a farewell meeting. Afterward, his ring of office, used to seal official documents, will be destroyed, as is traditionally done when a pope dies.
'A very quiet' role
The pope is to live in a four-story building attached to the Mater Ecclesiae monastery inside the Vatican, something that the church's senior communications adviser, Greg Burke, told The Associated Press was significant.
"It is something that he has wanted to do for a while," Burke said. "But I think it also suggests that his role is going to be a very quiet one, and that is important so you don't have a situation of ... two different popes at the same time, and one influencing the other. I think the obvious thing is when he says retirement, it really means retiring."
As for the soon-to-be ex-pope's new name, Burke told the AP that Benedict would most likely be referred to as "Bishop of Rome, emeritus" as opposed to "Pope Emeritus."
Other Vatican officials said it would probably be up to the next pope to decide Benedict's new title, and wouldn't exclude that he might still be called "Your Holiness" as a courtesy, much as retired presidents are often referred to as "President," the AP reported.
It is unclear if he will keep the name Benedict, which he took on becoming pope, or return to being Joseph Ratzinger again.
Javier Barbancho / AFP - Getty Images
Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Look back at his life from childhood through his papacy.
Immediately after his resignation, Benedict will spend some time at the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo, overlooking Lake Albano in the hills south of Rome, where he has spent his summer vacations reading and writing, the AP said.
Afterward, he will return to the building in the Vatican's grounds, which was built in 1992 on the site of a former residence for the its gardeners, the AP reported. The building, which was occupied by an order of nuns until October, has a garden, where the nuns would tend to the lemon and orange trees as well as the roses.
The pope's older brother, Georg Ratzinger, confirmed that Benedict has no intention of returning to live in his native Bavaria. "You don't transplant an old tree," Ratzinger said.
Ratzinger said Tuesday that, in addition to his health issues, Benedict had been troubled by episodes such as the "Vatileaks" scandal in which a butler leaked secret documents. He also brought up "the relationship to the Pius Brotherhood" as a problem that troubled the pope.
That organization, formally known as the Society of St. Pius X, fell into a harsh public spotlight in December when its leader, Bishop Bernard Fellay, said Jews were "the enemies of the church." His comment drew criticism from all corners of the church and from the public in general.
Ratzinger said he thought his brother had handled those problems well, but that they had taken their toll.
On Wednesday, the pope asked for continued support for him and the church.
"Continue to pray for me, for the church and for the future pope," he said. "The Lord will guide us."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related:
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Vatican history of 'cover-ups and disarray' will challenge new pope
Why the buzz over St. Malachy's 'last pope' prophecy outdoes 2012 hype
This story was originally published on Wed Feb 13, 2013 9:07 AM EST
Leave a Comment:
Candy little boy?!
Looking for action?
Does the church elect a Vice Pope...? If they are allowed to just walk away from the Job of Pope..?
Then the church needs to have a replacement Pope waiting in the wings....
No Pope_Second-In-Command. That is why the conclave usually takes place so quickly after his death.
Yeah, they somehow talk to god or god talks to them.... lol!!!!
Child rape and molestation has always existed because as sinners were are self serving to the evil desires born unto us! Until you accept that you are a sinner and admit Jesus Christ died for your sins on the cross! Now we remove God and live in a nation of ruins, threats and indignity! I am truly ashamed that so many mock God and all the beauty he has created for us on this earth! It all comes down to faith and some people chose to put their faith into false idols while others serve a much greater purpose! The pope means nothing, he is an ordinary man living in sin and seeking daily forgiveness like the rest of us!
get your facts straight, there is more child abuse in ours schools than in the catholic church, we only hear about the latter because satan is at war with the church, see link http://www.themediareport.com/fast-facts/k
Does the number really matter as much as the fact that the RCC has had a policy for centuries to cover-up, protect and defend molesters?
its easy to accuse, much harder to prove especially 20 years after the fact, you have to be careful how you punish someone without solid proof, sure some guilty will go unfrocked, but how many criminals get away because of lack of proof, innocent until proven guilty, sadly some innocent priests get taken from thier duties and put in solitude just to appease public opinion, you can only defrock a priest with solid proof.
When countless people come forward, it's not really that hard to prove. The issue is, that with plenty of proof and evidence, we see that Ratzinger and cronies intentionally turned a blind eye.
post a link to one case where solid proof was given and the priest was not removed. and any cases as such were the fault of local bishop probably. there is no doubt there are cases, but we are still dealing with imperfect humans here, remember infallibility does not mean perfect, only that when dealing with church doctrine the pope will act in accordance with the will of God. dosent mean he wont make mistakes. pope goes to confession too
@Apples-n-oranges, they are not providing links today......only parroted opinion. I'm waiting on links myself.
The results made public in 2004 showed that even after the public outcry, priests were moved out of the countries where they had been accused and were still in "settings that bring them into contact with children, despite church claims to the contrary." - Associated Press (2004-06-20). "Hundreds of priests shuffled worldwide, despite abuse allegations".
Bishop Manuel D. Moreno of Tucson, Arizona, USA repeatedly attempted to have two local abusive priests defrocked and disciplined, pleading unsuccessfully in a letter of April 1997 with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to have one of them, who was first suspended in 1990 and convicted by the church in 1997 of five crimes including sexual solicitation in the confessional, defrocked. The two were finally defrocked in 2004. Bishop Moreno had been heavily criticized for failing to take action until details of his efforts became public. - Arizona Daily Star: Moreno struggled to defrock 2 priests
"the Dublin Archdiocese's pre-occupations in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse, at least until the mid 1990s, were the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the Church, and the preservation of its assets. All other considerations, including the welfare of children and justice for victims, were subordinated to these priorities. The Archdiocese did not implement its own canon law rules and did its best to avoid any application of the law of the State" - Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin".
like i said dont be too quick to punish this is not like murder or robbery where we have solid physical evidence, but at any rate like i said we are talking about imperfect humans that made the wrong descisions in some cases, i know that if someone dislikes a person its not hard to come up with several VICTIMS to incriminate someone on a charge such as molestation or rape, which usually happens years after the fact when no dna evidence remains
Congrats apples,
My morals prohibit me from reading your posts anymore. Time is too precious to devote one more synapse's worth of dopamine to your pedophile defending replies.
wow , im not defending pedophiles i think they should be castrated and thown in jail with others like them so they can be treated the same way, what im saying lets not punish someone who is innocent just to get one who is guilty, the church was guilty of that in the inquistions and witch hunts, there are so many abused in schools and school boards protect and shuffle teachers why dont we hear about that?
goodness,
Yep, it takes time to work out problems worldwide.
atheists have no morals. They don't seem to have a need for them since everything is relative and anything absolute is unnecessary and anyone believing in them is psychotic. That is why there are donkey-dork democrats whose ultimate goal is a 'Burger King: have it your way lifestyle'. They think that it is more important to practice some perverted 'Golden Rule', "don't judge me cuz you don't know me", "allow people to do what they like". Sounds like they almost got the Second Great commandment right, just almost while they totally abstain from a lifestyle where the First Great commandment is paramount. God has given us His proscribed way to worship Him. Too many people either don't know what is meant by true worship(i.e. praying to Him in His Son's name, NOT praying to the Virgin Mary or to some 'saint' who lies in the earth having decomposed to dust and ashes, NOT worshiping icons, idols, likenesses of the Virgin Mary in somebody's thrown away banana peel or knot in a piece of lumber) and they let others(the rc church, orthodoxy, and protestantism) lead them astray by substituting the philosophies of men for TRUE commandments from the Almighty. Come check out the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints for help in true worship. We aren't led by people who quit their jobs because of 'failing health'.
The headline hints that the pope may have been behind the pedophilia and money laundering, himself.
Hints? Oh, just your opinion. Got it.
it amazes me that an institution which stresses the eternal consequences of sacraments like marriage and ordination so easily passes off on Benedict retiring--they would never let a priest or married person off the hook so easily! Perhaps enough cardinals in red dresses manned up and pushed the old guy aside for his incredibly poor management skills?
He is still a priest and will continue as a priest and bishop. Maybe a cardinal again. They retire also as necessary.
Celebrate mass with a woman: instant excommunication.
Speak to reporters while in conclave: instant excommunication.
_________________________________________________________
∴ Cover up the raping of babies: receive a titular parish in Rome.
Its all about hiding Gods word from its people for Centuries, and not understanding it , themselves. Priests cant get Married? PROVE WHERE IT SAYS THAT? MARRAGE WAS INSTITUDED IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN. GOD CREATED WOMAN for MAN- GENESIS . Hiding the truth? Catholic Religion has be great for that for Centuries. When you face God, will you be able to pass into Heaven?
yes bill luther, many will come , in my name and lead even the elect astray, that sounds like the protestant reformation, many hmm catholic church is one the only one since Christ left the earth, now there are so many homegrown protestant faiths with ill start my own church because i know my way to heaven is better than yours. i doubt God abandoned his church for 1500 years before he fixed it. upon you peter i will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. only one church fits that desciption, catholic which means universal and thats what it was called in the first century.
Bill,
The Pope can make the rules unless they are against God. Married priests decision is still his call.
Take care of yourself as regards heaven. It is a full time job.
Sorry to say this but this Pope's legacy is going to be that of a quitter; he has turned his back on a Church in confusion and in need of a strong man of faith; it is obvious he was not the man we needed. We have been told in prophesy to beware the one who sat in Peter's chair and changed the words of the Mass; this Pope did just that by changing wording of prayers used during the Mass; these changes went beyond those of Vatican II. I feared for the leadership of Holy Mother Church under this Pope; I was right to do so; I fear more confusion is in store for those who truly believe in the reality and truth of the Miracle of the Mass. We can only pray that the next Pope elected is truly one who is a man of faith such as the man we hand in His Holiness Blessed Pope John Paul II.
actually changes to holy mass was made with vatican 2, the recent changes just brought it back closer to the original form, latin proper is the way it should be done as the eastern orthodox has not abandoned the old form
NCAN,
Nah, It has been done before and it is great that he knows he can't continue. His call. After all, he IS the Pope.
He is the freakin pope :)
and because the lawsuits against the Church have laid out the fact that predator priest were allowed to remain in the Church rather than be removed all at the order of than Cardinal Ratzinger he never removed one priest just kept moving them from parish to parish.
please provide a link to a case you describe
as always, with every story about 'the Pope'.
the irreligious and perverts and degenerates crawl out to try to say something intelligent. never.
"the irreligious and perverts"? You're talking about priests obviously.
no that would be the lgbt community ovu
I am a practicing Roman Catholic. I do believe the Church is corrupt in many aspects, but I will never change my faith or convert to Protestantism. There are things that go on in the USA that I do not like or agree with, but that doesn't make me up and move to Canada. I believe in God the Father, His Son Our Lord Jesus Christ, adn the Holy Spirit. I believe in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and all of Our Sacrements. I am not going to let the actions of a few old fruit cakes and peodophiles change my faith. There are more Catholic priests in the world than ministers in any other religion. The percentage of priests who are peodophiles is the same percentage of teachers or plumbers or accountants world wide who are peodophiles. Where the Church went wrong was trying to cover it up. They should have defrocked these men and alerted the authorities and for that the Church was 100% wrong. They are men, capable of sin and mistakes. My faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ and my religion is not shaken by their dispicable actions. That is exactly what the Evil One wants to happen, and unfortunatly in many cases it is.
Carl,
Well said!!!
People sin but His Church endures.
Very nice, Carl!
Carl - I couldn't have said it better
Amen to that
logically, there has to be more to the story than just "being old". the whole point in being pope is, being the pope. someone is hiding something from the people, and the truth is, we will never know. also we also know that "wither you believe or not", it is politically motivated, by what ever subject matter the church is hiding. So to all you faithful followers of the Catholic sector, wake up and don't be ashamed to look at other opinions other than the ones you grew up in, through past generations. just saying.
Tim ... logic has never played any part in religion.
Tim,
Why must there be more than just being old? When we get older, the affects are not the same for each of us. Your statement is simply based upon your "feelings". Nothing more.
"Just saying......"
YAY no more Nazi pope leading the largest group of crazy people in the world.
Didn't know the pope was a member of the U.S. Tea Party!
OVU,
You need help with your hate issues.
I have no hate issues, I have issues with the stupidity it takes to elect a Nazi into the position of Pope and putting a hate mongering piece of filth in charge of billions of crazy people. Thank god Alzheimer's hit him.
What would be 'good' is if the 'church' went away.
"Pope's retirement is for the good of the church." - Ain't it the truth, bro! Now if you got the rest of the top level to do the same, it would be for the GREAT good of the church.
More and more, this is starting to sound like a board shakeup at any other big corporation. Just amazed that the initial announcement didn't say that he was accepting an early retirement and golden parachute, to "pursue his many other interests". Or would Mafia language be better - the cardinals announce that the pope has been given an offer he couldn't refuse.
Wych,
What?
The pope retiring is a start. Now, if the entire Catholic church would just go away, the improvement to the world would be fantastic!
yea all the charities the catholic church does would go away, i see that as being good huh? dont worry obama would tax you some more and give it away. socialist state thats what you want
The Catholic Church has done more good in the world than any other entity anywhere.
Sooo - when is the church going to return all the properties and wealth stolen during the Inquisition?
wych,
Hard to say or figure out. Which Inquisition? What wealth or properties from where? Where do you get this stuff?
let me guess wych you want a cut of those prperties or $$
I think he's right - the church is better off without him. Probably also without anyone else taking over as some kind of out of touch semi-deity.
Rick,
Nah. We do not say the Pope is a god or god-like.
It would actually be better for the world if the WHOLE catholic church would retire and take with it all the queer priests that want to rape little kids...........they are all going to HELL anyway.........Jesus said....let the little children come to me..............they are precious to his sight...........children were not born for priests to abuse!!! The catholic upper crust has been protecting the perverts for years........and for that, they all need to be in JAIL where they can ENJOY the fruits of their labors.............the boys in there won't mind a sissy priest...new meat!!!
susan,
You may want to check out your ignorance and hate issues before dying.
I swear, NC, I have never seen so much Catholic Envy in my life as here on newsvine! I'm sort of starting to feel bad for these people.
No doubt in my mind that more will be coming out about covering up child abuse and he will be directly implicated. So he did "go" for the good of the church, just for a different reason. He will live now a life of solitary prayer blah blah blah.....Wouldn't surprise me that they don't stage his death when this abuse scandel blows. People that give to the church are just as guilty for supporting pedophiles. FORMER catholic.
As long as he remains in the Vatican, it will be difficult to arrest him.
To Plain Jain: Again, I am a practicing Roman Catholic. I do believe the Church is corrupt in many aspects, but I will never change my faith or convert to Protestantism. There are things that go on in the USA that I do not like or agree with, but that doesn't make me up and move to Canada. I believe in God the Father, His Son Our Lord Jesus Christ, adn the Holy Spirit. I believe in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and all of Our Sacrements. I am not going to let the actions of a few old fruit cakes and peodophiles change my faith. There are more Catholic priests in the world than ministers in any other religion. The percentage of priests who are peodophiles is the same percentage of teachers or plumbers or accountants world wide who are peodophiles. Where the Church went wrong was trying to cover it up. They should have defrocked these men and alerted the authorities and for that the Church was 100% wrong. They are men, capable of sin and mistakes. My faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ and my religion is not shaken by their dispicable actions. That is exactly what the Evil One wants to happen, and unfortunatly in many cases it is. Why would you let anyone's actions influence the faith you have in our faith instituted by Christ himslef? Even the earlist apostles had scandles and controversery, but faith endured. Men are sinful creatures, from the plumber to the Pope. The only thing the Pope is infallible about is the doctrine that the Eucharist becomes our Lord's body and blood according to Catechism. In every other aspect he is sinful man just like me and you. Dont throw out the baby with the bathwater, no matter how murky it is.
Carl does that logic worth with the KKK or the NAZI Party? Would you remain a party member because, well, you wouldn't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater?
Seriously, what would it take for you to renounce Catholicism?
Nothing would make a true Catholic renounce Catholicism.
People sin. The Church is of God and endures.
Comparing the Curch to the KKK or the nazi party isnt even entertainable, despite any reasons your slanted view can come up with.
Carl, I didn't compare the Catholic Church to the KKK. I made an analogy comparable to the logic you employed.
You kind of did man. Things aren't as black and white as you would like to believe. The Catholic Church as an institution is indeed corrupt, as it has been since the beginning of it's inception in some way or another. So ius any o ther institution made up of flawed human beings. What went on is unacceptable. Secular society falls in to the trap of believing those who are religious or pretending to be religious are suppose to be perfect. No one is perfect. There are many of good Catholics and priests out there who live their faith. You can't paint the entire Catholic world with the same brush.
If this was JEWISH POPE or EASTERN EROPEAN POPE- He would never quit till the very last of his breath.
He would never give up FAME & FORTUNE.
He will let Hutus kill Tutus.
Carnage Settlements galore!
bitter,
What? Why the rant? Who are you to say when he should quit?
Why do you hate us so?
You are not making any sense.
http://www.themediareport.com/fast-facts/
Satire:
"Priests in Romania found to have boiled infants and eaten them."
Sadly, if this were to ever actually occur, I have ZERO doubt Catholics would defend the priests, those who covered it up and claim, well, New Guinea tribespeoples once ate humans.
Faith is clearly a cognitive illness. Hopefully, for their sake, it's only a matter of time before a diagnosis code is billable to health insurance for treatment. Seriously Catholics, WHAT WOULD IT TAKE for you to say, ENOUGH, I can't belong to this anymore? Baby consumption? Anything? No? Just think about that. You are victims of a cognitive illness.
atheist
If such a case happened, I greatly doubt there would be cover up at any level. It would also mean that those people were demented and that they should be urgently and permanently committed.
It would indeed take a lot to force me to leave the Church - certainly more than sins committed by a handful f priests and a bad call made by an even smaller handful of cardinals. People, who are all sinners, come and go - but the Church, which was founded by an order from Christ endures. And it learns from its mistakes and sins - which explains why it is still growing in numbers.
Sorry, but they covered up the raping of babies. Even the molestation of deaf babies. That priest was never defrocked!
The Church burn't all the goodwill decent people once afforded it once the coverups of rape surfaced. This isn't the middle ages. This is the 21st century and the Church is being pressured by secular justice to implement child protection policies. Just think about that.
And back to the main article. THIS POPE's LASTING ACT is allowing a known, rebuked Cardinal have a chance to become SUPREME PONTIFF!
Stop the planet, some people need to get off.
This is to the purely ignorant known as 'atheist'. When your miserable life comes up to its useful end, would you rather have faith in God and maybe not need it or would you rather need it and not have it(too bad for you)?
People sin and must be held accountable for their actions, The Church is of God and endures.
Any adult, single catholic male is eligible to be made Pope. The probability for each is ...very small.
The_Messenger,
I notice you didn't actually respond to or reject any of the claims I've made. Is that because they are all evidence-based?
I'd be happy to have a discussion with you about actual sentences I've stated. Keep emotion out of it.
"known twice rebuked Cardinal ... allowed to have a chance to become pontiff"
I am sorry, but I SINCERELY do not see who that is - can you give me the name?
athiest in case you dont know virtus training is now required for all in contact with children in the church look it up
apples,
they do not know what Virtus is.
the very term athiest means you have no morals save what you consider is good for you. since you have no God to be accountable for what are the consequences of what ever actions you can get away with? people routinely get away with robbery murder rape, so that make you a very dangerous person
When God got tired of raping children did he step down or did God just hide in a nother job. The pope should have never been pope he was a nazi and was one who killed pepole and member of the church.
nodak,
Proof please that he was an adult who was a Nazi.
btw nazis killed catholic jews and priests
And the Catholic Church saved more Jews than any other entity during WWII