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| In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI delivers his blessing during his last Angelus noon prayer, from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Benedict XVI gave his pontificate's final Sunday blessing from his studio window to the cheers of tens of thousands of people packing St. Peter's Square, but sought to reassure the faithful that he wasn't abandoning the church by retiring to spend his final years in prayer. The 85-year-old Benedict is stepping down on Thursday evening, the first pope to do so in 600 years, after saying he no longer has the mental or physical strength to vigorously lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. |
VATICAN CITY
(AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI bestowed his final Sunday blessing of his
pontificate on a cheering crowd in St. Peter's Square, explaining that
his waning years and energy made him better suited to the life of
private prayer he soon will spend in a secluded monastery than as leader
of the Roman Catholic Church.
On Thursday
evening, the 85-year-old German-born theologian will become the first
pope to have resigned from the papacy in 600 years.
Sunday's
noon appearance from his studio window overlooking the vast square was
his next-to-last appointment with the public of his nearly eight-year
papacy. Tens of thousands of faithful and other admirers have already
asked the Vatican for a seat in the square for his last general audience
Wednesday.
Perhaps emotionally buoyed by the
warm welcome, thunderous applause and the many banners reading "Grazie"
(Thanks) held up in the crowd estimated by police to number 100,000,
Benedict looked relaxed and sounded energized, in sharp contrast to his
apparent frailty and weariness of recent months.
In
a strong and clear voice, Benedict told the pilgrims, tourists and
Romans in the square that God had called him to dedicate himself "even
more to prayer and meditation," which he will do in a monastery being
renovated for him on the grounds behind Vatican City's ancient walls.
"But
this doesn't mean abandoning the church," he said, as many in the crowd
looked sad at his approaching departure. "On the contrary, if God asks
me, this is because I can continue to serve it (the church) with the
same dedication and the same love which I have tried to do so until now,
but in a way more suitable to my age and to my strength."
The phrase "tried to" was the pope's adlibbed addition to his prepared text.
Benedict
smiled in pleasure at the crowd after an aide parted the white curtain
at his window and he gazed at the people packing the square, craning
their head for a look at him. Giving greetings in several languages, he
gratefully acknowledged what he said was an outpouring of "gratitude,
affection and closeness in prayer" since he stunned the church and its
1.2 billion members on Feb. 11 with his decision to renounce his papacy
and retreat into a world of contemplation.
"Prayer
is not isolating oneself from the world and its contradictions,"
Benedict told the crowd. He said he had heard God's call to prayer,
"which gives breath to our spiritual life" in a special way "at this
moment of my life."
Heavy rain had been
forecast for Rome, and some drizzle dampened the square earlier in the
morning. But when Benedict appeared, to the peal of church bells as the
clock struck noon, blue sky crept through the clouds.
"We thank God for the sun he has given us," the pope said.
Even
as the cheering continued and shouts of "Long live the pope" went up in
Italian and Spanish, the pontiff simply turned away from his window and
stepped back down into the apartment, which he will leave Thursday,
taking a helicopter to the Vatican summer residence in the hills outside
Rome while he waits for the monastery to be ready.
A child in the crowd held up a sign on a yellow placard, written in Italian, "You are not alone, I'm with you."
No date has yet been set for the start of the conclave of cardinals, who will vote in secret to elect Benedict's successor.
"Now
there will be two popes," said the Rev. Vilmar Pavesi, a Portuguese
priest who was among the throngs in the square. "There will be the pope
of Rome, the elected pope, and there will be the bishop emeritus of
Rome, who will live the life of a monk inside the Vatican walls."
One
Italian in the crowd seemed to be doing a little campaigning, hoisting a
sign which mentioned the names of two Italian cardinals considered by
observers to be potential contenders in the selection of the next
pontiff.
Flags in the crowd represented many nations, with a large number from Brazil.
The
cardinals in the conclave will have to decide whether it's time to look
outside of Europe for a pope. The papacy was considered the realm of
Italian prelates for centuries, until a Pole, John Paul II, was elected
as pontiff in 1978, to be followed in 2005 by the German-born Benedict.
Crucially,
Italian prelates have continued to run the behind-the-scenes machinery
of the church's governance, and cardinals will likely be deciding what
role the Italians might have played in a series of scandals clouding the
central bureaucracy, including allegations of corruption and
power-grabbing.
Benedict has not made any direct comment on details of the scandals.
In
one of his last papal tweets, Benedict wrote Sunday in English: "In
these momentous days, I ask you to pray for me and for the church,
trusting as always in divine providence."
