Pope Benedict XVI surprises Catholics everywhere by announcing his retirement

Ear­li­er today, at the Con­cis­to­ry Hall in Vat­i­can City, Pope Bene­dict XVI shocked the world com­mu­ni­ty by announc­ing that he has decid­ed to step down as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church at the end of this month and allow the Col­lege of Car­di­nals to choose his suc­ces­sor while he is still alive.

In resign­ing, Bene­dict becomes the first pope in more than half a mil­len­ni­um not to serve until his death. The Vat­i­can said that he would retire to a monastery in Italy to live out the rest of his days. His suc­ces­sor will like­ly be cho­sen by Easter.

Bene­dic­t’s pre­pared state­ment was as fol­lows:

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 bar­que 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.

Bene­dic­t’s announce­ment quick­ly became the top sto­ry in media all over the globe. A num­ber of world lead­ers appeared very much sur­prised, while oth­ers react­ed more placid­ly through their press shops.

“On behalf of Amer­i­cans every­where, Michelle and I wish to extend our appre­ci­a­tion and prayers to His Holi­ness Pope Bene­dict XVI,” Pres­i­dent Barack Oba­ma said in a state­ment released around 9:45 AM Pacif­ic Time.

“Michelle and I warm­ly remem­ber our meet­ing with the Holy Father in 2009, and I have appre­ci­at­ed our work togeth­er over these last four years. The Church plays a crit­i­cal role in the Unit­ed States and the world, and I wish the best to those who will soon gath­er to choose His Holi­ness Pope Bene­dict XVI’s successor.