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| Cardinal Angelo Comastri puts ash on Pope Benedict XVI's head during the celebration of Ash Wednesday mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a solemn period of 40 days of prayer and self-denial leading up to Easter. Pope Benedict XVI told thousands of faithful Wednesday that he was resigning for "the good of the church", an extraordinary scene of a pope explaining himself to his flock that unfolded in his first appearance since dropping the bombshell announcement. |
VATICAN CITY
(AP) -- Beginning a long farewell to his flock, a weary Pope Benedict
XVI celebrated his final public Mass as pontiff, presiding over Ash
Wednesday services hours after a bittersweet audience that produced the
extraordinary scene of the leader of the world's billion Catholics
explaining himself directly to the faithful.
The
mood inside St. Peter's Basilica was somber during the Mass, as if the
weight of Benedict's decision and the finality of his pontificate had
finally registered with the thousands present. The basilica erupted in a
rousing standing ovation as Benedict exited for the last time as pope,
bringing tears to the eyes of some of those closest to him.
"We
wouldn't be sincere, Your Holiness, if we didn't tell you that there's a
veil of sadness on our hearts this evening," Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone,
Benedict's longtime deputy, told the pope at the end of the service,
his voice breaking.
"Thank you for having
given us the luminous example of the simple and humble worker in the
vineyard of the Lord," Bertone said, quoting Benedict's words when he
first appeared on the loggia overlooking St. Peter's Square after he was
elected pope.
Smiling and clearly moved,
Benedict responded, "Grazie. Now let us return to prayer" - his words
bringing to an end several minutes of thundering applause. Then, in a
rare gesture and sign of respect, the bishops removed their mitres.
"Viva
il papa!" the crowd yelled as the pope stepped off the altar, assisted
by two clergymen, and departed St. Peter's aboard a moving platform to
spare him the long walk down the aisle.
Ash
Wednesday marks the start of Lent, the most solemn season on the
church's liturgical calendar that ends with Holy Week, which
commemorates the death of Christ and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
By this Easter, on March 31, the church will likely have a new pope.
The
scene was festive earlier in the day, when Benedict took the
extraordinary step of speaking directly to his flock about why he had
broken with 600 years of tradition and decided to retire on Feb. 28.
"As
you know, I have decided to renounce the ministry that the Lord gave to
me on April 19, 2005," Benedict said, to warm applause. "I did this in
full liberty for the good of the church."
He
thanked the faithful for their prayers and love, which he said he had
"physically felt in these days that haven't been easy for me." And he
asked them to "to continue to pray for me, the church, and the future
pope."
Benedict looked tired but serene as he
basked in a standing ovation when he entered the packed hall for his
traditional Wednesday catechism lesson. His speech was interrupted
repeatedly by applause, and many in the audience of thousands had tears
in their eyes.
A huge banner reading "Grazie
Santita" ("Thank you Your Holiness") was strung up and a chorus of
Italian schoolchildren serenaded him with one of his favorite hymns in
German - a gesture that won over the pope, who thanked them for singing a
piece "particularly dear to me."
He appeared wan and spoke softly, but his eyes twinkled at the welcome.
"He
gave us eight wonderful years of his words," said Ileana Sviben, an
Italian from the northern city of Trieste. "He was a wonderful
theologian and pastor."
The Rev. Reinaldo
Braga Jr., a Brazilian priest studying theology in Rome, said he, too,
was saddened when he first heard the news.
"The
atmosphere was funereal but nobody had died," he said. "But then I
realized it was a wise act for the entire church. He taught the church
and the world that the papacy is not about power, but about service."
It was a sentiment the retiring Benedict himself emphasized Wednesday, saying the "path of power is not the road of God."
Benedict
`s decision has placed the Vatican in uncharted waters: No one knows
what he'll be called or even what he'll wear after Feb. 28.
The
Vatican revealed some details of that final day, saying Benedict would
attend a morning farewell ceremony with his cardinals and then fly by
helicopter at 5 p.m. to the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo.
That
means Benedict will be far from the Vatican when he ceases being pope
at 8 p.m. - a deadline decided by the pope himself because that's when
his normal workday ends.
Vatican spokesman the
Rev. Federico Lombardi said no formal or symbolic act was needed to
make his resignation official, because Benedict has already done all
that was required to resign by affirming publicly he had taken the
decision freely.
Benedict's final official
acts as pope will include audiences with the Romanian and Guatemalan
presidents this week and the Italian president on Feb. 23.
To
assure the transition goes smoothly, Benedict made an important
appointment Wednesday, naming the No. 2 administrator of the Vatican
city state, Monsignor Giuseppe Sciacca, as a legal adviser to the
camerlengo.
The camerlengo, or chamberlain,
helps administer the Vatican bureaucracy in the period between
Benedict's resignation and the election of a new pope. The current
camerlengo is Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state.
He
and the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, will
have a major role in organizing the conclave, during which the 117 or so
cardinals under the age of 80 will vote on who should succeed Benedict.
The
Vatican has made clear that Benedict will play no role in the election
of his successor, and once retired, he will live a life of prayer in a
converted monastery on the far northern edge of the Vatican gardens.
His
continued presence within the Vatican walls has raised questions about
how removed he really will be from the life of the church. Lombardi
acknowledged that Benedict would still be able to see friends and
colleagues.
"I think the successor and also
the cardinals will be very happy to have very nearby a person that best
of all can understand what the spiritual needs of the church are,"
Lombardi said.
Benedict is expected, however, to keep a low public profile.
As
a result, Benedict's final public appearances - his last general
audience will be Feb. 27 - are expected to draw large crowds for what
may well be some of the last speeches by a man who has spent his life -
as a priest, a cardinal and a pope - teaching and preaching.
And
they will also give the faithful a way to say farewell under happier
circumstances than when his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, died in
2005.
