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Subscribe to RSSWith the days of his papacy dwindling, every public appearance of outgoing Pope Benedict are now a must see event, NBC's Ann Thompson reports.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict asked the faithful to pray for him and for the next pope, addressing a crowded St. Peter's Square in his penultimate Sunday address before becoming the first pontiff in centuries to resign.
The crowd chanted "Long live the pope!," waved banners and broke into sustained applause as he spoke from his window. The 85-year-old Benedict, who will resign on February 28, thanked them in several languages.
Speaking in Spanish, he told the crowd which the Vatican said numbered more than 50,000: "I beg you to continue praying for me and for the next pope".
It was not clear why the pope chose Spanish to make the only specific reference to his upcoming resignation in his Sunday address.
A number of cardinals have said they would be open to the possibility of a pope from the developing world, be it Latin America, Africa or Asia, as opposed to another from Europe, where the Church is crisis and polarized.
After his address, the pope retired into the Vatican's Apostolic Palace for a scheduled, week-long spiritual retreat and will not make any more public appearances until next Sunday.
Pope Benedict delivered a weekly prayer from his balcony just as he has for nearly eight years, but the crowd on Sunday was worthy of a rock star, with thousands of supporters coming out to hear him speak. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.
Speaking in Italian in part of his address about Lent, the period when Christians reflect on their failings and seek guidance in prayer, the pope spoke of the difficulty of making important decisions.
"In decisive moments of life, or, on closer inspection, at every moment in life, we are at a crossroads: do we want to follow the ‘I' or God? The individual interest or the real good, that which is really good?" he said.
Since his shock announcement last Monday, the pope has said several times that he made the difficult decision to become the first pope in more than six centuries to resign for the good of the Church.
The pope has said his physical and spiritual forces are no longer strong enough to sustain him in the job of leading the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics at a time of difficulties for the Church in a fast-changing world.
Benedict's papacy was rocked by crises over the sex abuse of children by priests in Europe and the United States, most of which preceded his time in office but came to light during it.
His reign also saw Muslim anger after he compared Islam to violence. Jews were upset over his rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier. During a scandal over the Church's business dealings, his butler was convicted of leaking his private papers.
Riccardo De Luca / AP
A priest displays a placard in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican as he follows Pope Benedict XVI reciting the Angelus prayer from the window of his apartments, Sunday.
People in the crowd said the pope was a shadow of the man he was when elected on April 19, 2005.
"Like always, recently, he seemed tired, moved, perplexed, uncertain and insecure," said Stefan Malabar, an Italian in St. Peter's Square.
The Vatican has said the conclave to choose his successor could start earlier than originally expected, giving the Roman Catholic Church a new leader by mid-March.
Some 117 cardinals under the age of 80 will be eligible to enter the secretive conclave to elect Benedict's successor. Church rules say the conclave has to start between 15 and 20 days after the papacy becomes vacant, which it will on February 28.
The pope will say one more Sunday noon prayer on February 24, hold a final general audience on February 27. The next day he will take a helicopter to the papal summer retreat at Castle Gandalf, south of Rome, flying into the history books.
Elisabetta A. Villa / Getty Images Contributor
Pope Benedict XVI delivers his Angelus Blessing from the window of his private studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, on Sunday.
Vatican officials said he would stay there for the two months or so needed to restore the convent inside the Vatican where he will live out his remaining years.
Related:
- Pope Benedict XVI, citing deteriorating strength, will step aside Feb. 28
- New pope doesn't mean new doctrine, experts say
- Pope's abdication could thwart Silvio Berluconi's political comeback
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While I will leave alone the ideas that pedophiles band together secretly and protect each other ....
I will suggest if anyone prays it is for the thousands of children who were raped by priests because the Pope failed to stop and even protected them from discovery....
The entire institution, not just this one pope. The church is no different than any other giant corporation. They protect their bottom line -- A large membership willing to tithe. Anything that threatens that is dealt with within the corporation. Public knowledge would derail their business model.
Tiredofitall
Finally, someone who suggests prayers for the victims. Thank you.
All members of the roman catholic church are supporting the ongoing rape of children. Roman catholics, leave the church.
bishopsaccountability.org "survivor's accounts" You will see not every victim was male. Girls are assaulted by priests, too. Protect ALL of our children.
Nominal Catholics are the ones that need to simply walk away from this evil religio-Industrial-complex. But they are afraid to. Tell me, if your god would punish you because you don't want to be associated with an organization that covers up child rape time and time again, is He really worth worshipping?
Nominal Catholics, become part of the solution. Walk away.
Atheist: What is a "nominal Catholic"?
It's a typical Sunday Catholic, Juanita, one who goes to church on Sunday as part of a famly tradition; doesn't follow church doctrine, uses birth control, maybe is even unconvinced with the whole god/afterlife thing, but goes to church because, well, they've been going their whole lives and they like their fellow church goers.
leroy brown, upvoted.
They have been taught from birth that if they go to any other church they will be damned for eternity because the roman catholic church is "the one, true church". If you are taught this from birth and your parents, relatives, friends and neighbors ALL believe it and support it (because they were also brainwashed from birth), it is VERY difficult to break away. The cafeteria catholics are the ones who can sense something is not right, but they are afraid to leave, especially if they believe that their CHILDREN will burn in hell for eternity. So they continue to attend, but they ignore the silly roman catholic rules.
Roman catholics- you will not be punished in hell if you leave. Read the bible- it does not say "do this in memory of me but only if you are roman catholic" LEAVE. PROTECT THE CHILDREN FROM PEDOPHILES!
bishopaccountability.org "survivor's accounts" Do you want YOUR children to go through this? Do you want to continue to support these crimes?
ask US to pray for HIM?.. and the 'next' Pope...?
Oh Wait - I see - they need all your 'prayer energy' so they can just keep the evil rolling!
Covering up for so many pedophile priests is a lot of work.
Why does someone who claims to be the word of 'god' on earth need anyones prayers??? Aren't they already 'chosen' and have knowledge of what 'god' wants for us??? Nothing but CRAP - cruel rapists and pedophiles!!!
I think that the good Pope needs to take a secon, third, and fourth look at the lightning strike that hit the Basillica, particularly if he would have us believe in miracles.
The "end days" are here, signaling transformatiion from old order spiritual politics to a more evolved democratic inclusiveness. Besides the tsunamis, wildfires, earthquakes, floods, droughts and recent "fireballs", the athelete Tim Tebow fulfilled the prohecy of the anti-christ. I am certainly not calling Tim, the anti-christ. There is no anti-christ and there never was one.Tim was simply born in the East (Phillipines) then brought to the West where he became famous for praising his lord. The number "6" was seen prominently on the front of his head at a couple of football games when he played for UF.He would write the numbers of bible verses underneath his eyes. This became known as the mark of the beast, the ferocious alligator, the mascot of UF. That's all the man saw in his dream hundreds of years ago. But church leaders seized upon it as the dream became more and more popular and turned it around by touting it as a doomsday scenario complete with satans and demons. It continues to be embellished to this day by soothsayers and of course, Hollywood. Did you know that satan was an old word for prosecutor? No offense to all you lawyers out there but the satan was the person who brought one up on charges. He did indeed become a fearsome and sometimes powerful person who often profited greatly from his position. And people began to use the fear of the satan to coerce others to obey them. The resignation of the pope is a sign that the old politics of fear and intimidation is on the wane. Perhaps his forthcoming isolation in a monastery is his way of repenting and atoning. Keep a close eye on the American Sisters. The time is getting ripe for them to seize the opportunity to establish the American Community Center for Universal Love, Peace, and Equality. Change is coming!
Peter 114 . hmmm incorrect there "was" an Antichrist that was to mislead believers his name , Paul. a self proclaimed, self selected, Apostate Apostle.
I will pray for God to save Ratzinger's soul. Sadly this former Hitler youth and pedophile enabler is most certainly destined for Hell.
WHAT soul ? What CONSCIENCE ? This man is the spawn of evil.
gemini618: by what authority deems you to be the expert on the "spawns of evil"?
Hey J.D. one doesn't have to be an expert in fecal chemistry to know a turd when you see or smell it.....
Actually juanita, the issue of the many pedophile priests is evil. You can't defend them just because you are a Catholic that worships a pope. It is evil.
JB from metro NY: I never stated that I was defending any pedophile priest(s)...and actually the "issue" itself is neither evil nor not evil; it's an issue that just happens to encompass the subject of pedophile priests and I do agree that those that perpetrated their actions on children are indeed evil.
I think we are reaching a time in History that Science and technology will do away with the need for religion. It served it purpose, now it's time to move on. The pope has access to Vatican archives, all the secrets that have been hidden, maybe it's more than he can handle. L. Ron Hubbard proved, I think in jest, humans can make a religion out of anything for fun and profit.
Their membership's already dwindling in the parts of the world where there is quality public education. The Catholic hierarchy preys on the impoverished and ignorant.
Boromir: you are good company in your belief that it's time to do away with religion...Lenin and Marx, among other "giants" of history, were in complete agreement with you.
as were Moses, Buddha, Socrates, Yeshua (Jesus), Copernicus, Galileo, Einstein etc. etc. etc. None of them started a religion. The religions were started by power hungry, money hungry men who used their names as celebrity endorsements because they had become the stuff of popular folklore. many of them were killed by the priests of their times.
Interesting that your name is Peter, Peter.
I have no problem with the pope but why would you tell other people to pray for you. Seems like kind of a self rightous thing to do. If i was sick i wouldnt tell other people to pray for me. If they wanted to do it on their own fine, but i wouldnt tell them too.
Maybe the Pope just wants us to pray for him because GOD knows he was highly involved in the coverups of the sexual abuse of children. Maybe, when he was talking to GOD and GOD found out about all the abuse coverups so he told the Pope "I DON"T WANT TO TALK TO YOU ANYMORE, SO STEP DOWN." (God's words have to be capitalized to display how pissed he was).
Why does someone who claims to be the word of 'god' on earth need anyones prayers??? Aren't they already 'chosen' and have knowledge of what 'god' wants for us??? Nothing but CRAP - cruel rapists and pedophiles!!!
Time for him to retire to a luxurious mountain cabin, to a life of watching his hunky manservant priest chop wood with his shirt off, while he offers him cool drinks. His faithful flock will wait for him to come out and see them on occasion, but rest assured.....Pope Ratzinger will never come out.
Brokeback Monseigneur?
Lord, protect me from your followers.
LOL!!! I want that one on a T-Shirt.....
Is this the guy that helped cover up the rape and torture of children for 10+years? Didn't he head up the "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith" (founded in the 16th century, aka the Inquisition) before becoming Pope?
Nah, I don't think I'll pray for him, maybe some of his victims though, whether directly or indirectly.
Maybe it's time to stop giving people in flashy clothes so much power and money....The Vatican.....Thpppttt!
If he was a true christian he would never have asked for prayers for himself, but ask that everyone pray for the victims of his predator priests crimes against humanity crusade he ruled over. What a selfish selfish piece of dung.
"True" Christian ? No such thing. You can't have something that's TRUE when it's based purely in FICTION.
so say you Mr. Gemini...you're entitled to your opinion but you are not the ultimate authority on truth.
I would not say that Gemini. We should follow Jesus Christ and not someone elected by the Catholic regime.
Why does Herr Ratzinger need the prayers of we simple folk, when we are told he has the ear of a divine sky guy?
So perfectly put Malinda. But what is it going to take? The ignorance is appalling and so prevalent. I don't mind people being ignorant if they confine it to their tax exempt places of worship, but when they use it to control public policy including denying their fellow citizens equal rights,and use it to control votes in an attempt to control governments, it's time they are stopped in their tracks. They almost destroyed Europe, we see what they are doing to the Middle East, and now they are trying so hard to gain a foothold in the American Congress. This is when I definitely mind the god people. When will they wake up to the fact that the god is merely a concept; a concept invented as a tool for empire building.
peter: there you go again....I have never seen quite so many generalizations located in one paragraph.
It'll be a great day when the Catholic church stops trying to impose its sharia laws on the rest of society.
Whether the is or there isn't a god, makes no difference, but I do believe there is a power greater than ourselves. That is the root of all religions. The Buddhist believe the Bible is a book of prophesies. Have any of you so called atheists ever had an out of body experience? Give it a try, you will be amazed. It really isn't that complicated, but you do have to be willing. Drugs don't count, they only cloud things up.
The power you speak of is not greater than ourselves, it is part of ourselves, and we are part of it. It is neither a singular man nor woman but part of the natural human package in perfect harmony with the ever expanding universe. We were denied this information by the high priests of every ancient culture who wanted the masses to remain subservient to them. Moses did not receive 10 commandments from any god. Moses simply offered guidelines to build a new community, the first of which was, "Thy self is thy sovereign. No other selves shall have sovereignty over you." But the high priests knew that Moses' direction for equality would eliminate their lofty positions. A growing number of historians, including myself, believed they actually assasinated Moses and rewrote the guidelines to support their hierarchichal government placing themselves at the top, the brokers of the invisible God that no one dared question.
ity
There are many powers greater than us, Peter, in fact, we are completely powerless by universe standards. We are nothing but an advanced form of pond scum that sprung up on earth because earth happened to have the right conditions for it to spring up. We're nothing, we can be wiped out completely by any number of forces that are greater than us. What you are talking about is not a "great force," it is a supernatural realm which there is zero evidence for.
"We" is a vast continually growing body of consciousness that includes both micro and macro, other dimensional and other planetary. There is no supernatural, only natural. What has been called supernatural is all part of an infinite "we" ( a collective consciousness) that continues. I did not use the term "great force". The human body that evolved from organic material that eventually could carry a conscious signal is very temporary,( almost every town has a cemetary) although as we advance in our awareness, the longevity of the organic form is also expanding. The expansion and contraction of various forms is caused by the pulse of quanta which creates vibration. When light and sound vibration intersect, a conscious signal evolves and becomes capable of enterring an unlimited multitude of various bodies. This conscious signal is the "I" that is independent yet part and parcel of both the limited organic form and the conscious energy beyond its parameters. Sorry to disappoint you, but there is much substantial evidence for this from both neurophysicists and particle physicists and more will be revealed this year from the Hadron collider in Cern.
Pray for him? @!$%# him! This criminal enables "holy men" to abuse children. Interferes with molestation investigations and switched dirty pedophile priests from place to place allowing them to abuse more of our children. We will miss him?! You people are @!$%#ing mental. Research the real reason he is stepping down. Him and his cult are best case for the existence of evil I have ever seen.
Hopefully the next pope will be less creepy looking and not a criminal conspirator.
Even better if he's not a misogynist or a homophobe, but I think that's too much to ask.
The pope had to resign to allow an American to lead. They need an American to lead so they can get a catholic elected to the Whitehouse. Ever since the child raping priests came to light, the church has focused on damage control and increasing political power. A corrupt catholic presidient backed by a growing number of corrupt catholic legislatures is a far more efficient way to shove a corrupt religious agenda down freedom loving peoples throats than trying to convince them to simply join the most evil religious organization the world has ever seen.
Pray for him? Isn't he the pope? Doesn't mean you're pretty sure to get into Heaven? Maybe pray they elect a pope that actually knows it's the 21st, not the 15th century.
Why does someone who claims to be the word of 'god' on earth need anyones prayers??? Aren't they already 'chosen' and have knowledge of what 'god' wants for us??? Nothing but CRAP - cruel rapists and pedophiles!!!
Dante's Inferno,
"Isn't he the pope?Doesn't mean you're pretty sure to get into Heaven?"
No. It does not mean he is sure to get into heaven. You need to brush up on your Catholic theology. Catholicism does not teach final assurance of salvation for anyone; not even the Pope. In fact, if you claim to be "Dante's Inferno", you should know that Dante has a number of Popes burning in hell, and Dante was a devout Catholic, too, but he knew his theology.
Tongue in cheek dude. I could give a rats ass about organized religion, let alone one that allows priests to molest boys and then moves them around to shield them from prosecution.
Dante
And girls. The girls are almost always overlooked.
bishopaccountability.org "survivor's accounts"
How about praying for all the abused who were raped by pedophile priests. Now the pope will have plenty of time to watch old Nazi news reels of him all dressed up in his brown shirt with the swastikas ,goose stepping with his fellow Nazis. The "good" old days.
The ego on these people.
"do we want to follow the ‘I' or God?" Followed by a request for people pray for him, the I.
I think your prayers have been ans. with the warrent for child molestation comming at you. May your God stick his thing in you
We should really follow Jesus Christ and not someone elected to run the Catholic regime.
Being a former child victim of the RCC I say to hell with Ratzinger and any other pope those evil cardinals want to elect.
I did some researching on the Malachy prophecy after remembering something from the past and I came across it. The original Malachy text is missing, It was destroyed I presume but what wasn't destroyed were other records of those who read the original text. In the original Malachy text, Malachy for some reason omitted the last word(s) of the first sentence of his text. "In the severe persecution of the holy roman church there will sit a ......" Now why did Malachy omit the remaining word(s) for? Was it for fear that he may get put to death by the RCC if he did disclose it to them?
Next think about this. Popes select cardinals and cardinals select popes. In words they hold the monopoly. And we all know what popes and cardinals are like after hearing all the things they done when it comes to pedophilia crimes. They're evil scum no doubt. Now getting back to the Malachy prophecy. After Joe Ratzinger will come a peter the roman. But the cardinals who are the ones chosen as pope, none of them possess the qualities needed to become peter the roman. Sure, some are named peter but they were not born in rome and those born in rome do not have the name of peter. Now what would happen if discosure came about meaning something that would expose the RCC for what it is, an abomination. All the cardinals could be kicked out meaning who would be pope? My theory, it has to do with the missing word(s) in the original Malachy text. That missing word could be "Priest"? A regular priest lets say who is outstanding in moral behavior and his name is peter and he was born in rome and is selected as the last pope. After this is the end, of the vatican lets say?
I agree with el popo. We should all pray that he rots in hell, even though there is no hell, no heaven, and, especially, no fictual being called god. This el popo is a selfish scumbag who raped (literally) and pillaged and now wants us to forgive him. F........K you.
I've often wondered what the term "scum" meant when taking about a person. Thanks bob, now I know.