Listen to it in as he gives it in Latin:
As my friend Ann said in her email, “Our sweet Benedict.”
Dear Brothers,
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church.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.
I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering.
However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, 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.
For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom 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 and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects.
And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff.
With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.
From the Vatican
10 February 2013BENEDICTUS PP XVI
Very hard news to take. Lots of uncertainty. I bought “Be Saints!” to read to my boys because of this. I had planned for later, but now seems right.
Really, I just can’t process this…I LOVED him…
Our Pope sees the papacy as a “ministry”, not an office. He _serves_ the Church as Pope, rather than he _is_ the Pope. He feels he no longer has the capacity to serve. It is sad, but it is an honorable way to leave this ministry.
I gave my reaction under Lourdes below. I think he’s doing an outside the box wonderful teaching thing to all elderly especially those who drive their cars at too advanced an age ( for each…it varies). And I’d add, he is removing a piece of denial from our culture of the papacy. The papacy should not be a marathon run to the death for those advanced in age. I may avoid the blogs after this AM. Like emdeardo….the processing going on will be too much…and my granddaughter’s in town ( we shuffled ( street dancing) on the street yesterday). I can’t process days of conjectures on the next Pope and process my granddaughter returning to Taiwan Saturday….all in the same week. I’m fleeing the blogs by noon. Yikes they will be filled.
I think this is a brave and selfless move on the part of the Holy Father. I am terribly sad to see him go, but I think the next few weeks will be exciting as we watch the Holy Spirit work in our church to choose our new pontiff.
He is who he is.
My mom called me at 6:30 AM to tell me the news (she didn’t even call me on 9/11, knowing we don’t have tv)….I had to remind her to BE NOT AFRAID…but it is still sad