In an announcement that apparently came as a surprise even to his closest aides, Pope Benedict XVI announced on Monday that he would step down at 8pm Vatican time on February 28. That makes him the first pontiff to resign in nearly 600 years.
Vatican sources said that as the pope has not died there is obviously no need for the traditional nine days of mourning, but there will be a Conclave to select a new pope.
The 85-year-old said he took the decision due to old age. In a statement delivered to the Vatican he said: "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."
"Both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me."
The Vatican’s spokesman said Pope Benedict has no specific illness and his decision to resign was taken with no outside
pressure.
Father Federico Lombardi said the pope’s decision was not due to an illness but to a progressive decline in his strength which was normal in a man of his age.
"In the last few months he has seen a decline in vigour, both of the body and spirit," Lombardi told reporters. "It was his personal decision taken with full freedom, which deserves maximum respect," he added.
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