Today is the final day
of the Pope Benedict XVI eight year
Papacy which took a dramatic turn when he announced two weeks ago that he would
step down by the end of the month. He
will meet with 115 cardinals this morning for a final time. The focus of the
meeting will be on the election of a new pope.
Most of the cardinals
from around the world will meet with Pope Benedict XVI, before he flies out with
a helicopter to the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.
Pope Benedict XVI will
stay at Castel Gandolfo for about two weeks, while his apartment inside Vatican
City is set up. The apartment is believed to be in a monastery.
With chants of
“Benedetto!” erupting from the crowd, the mood was far more buoyant than during
the Pope’s final Sunday blessing. Pope Benedict had said he decided to retire
after realizing that, at 85, he simply didn’t have the “strength of mind or
body” to carry on.
Pope Benedict who
becomes the Bishop of Rome Emeritus from
today thanked the people for respecting his decision to resign on grounds of
failing strength and ailing health, but more important, reminding them that “it
was time for a younger man to lead the Catholic Church into the future.
Reports said Pope
Benedict clearly enjoyed the crowds, as he took a long victory lap around the
square in an open-sided car and stopping to kiss and bless half a dozen
children handed to him by his secretary.
The outgoing Pope said he
“never felt alone on the job but It was a great burden that God placed on his
shoulders as a Pope.”
According to him when
he was elected Pope on April 19, 2005, he questioned if God truly wanted it.
“‘It’s a great burden that you’ve placed on my shoulders,’'
He thanked his
cardinals and colleagues for their guidance and for “understanding and respecting
this important decision.”
*I hear that his lead seal and his
ring of office, known as the “ring of the fisherman”, will be destroyed
according to Church rules, just as if he had died*
#Morenewscoming
#Morenewscoming
No comments:
Post a Comment