Pope’s Final Public Blessing

Over 200,000 people gathered at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Sunday to hear Pope Benedict XVI final public blessing before he retires.

“The Lord is calling me to ‘climb the mountain,’ to devote myself to prayer and meditation,” the Pope told the crowd as he appeared at the window of his apartment overlooking the square.

“But this does not mean abandoning the Church. If God is asking me to do this, it is so because I can continue to serve the Church with the same dedication and the same love, with which I have done thus far, but in a way that is better suited to my age and my strength,” the Pope said.
“Thank you for your affection,” he added.

Pope Benedict XVI shocked the world earlier this month with the announcement he would step down as head of the Catholic Church on February 28 due to old age and failing health.


“I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant,” Vatican Radio quoted the Pope, who is 85, as saying in a declaration.

“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,” he said.

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