Vatican City: Pope Benedict, addressing cardinals on his final day in office, called on Thursday for the Roman Catholic Church to unite behind his successor and pledged his own "unconditional" obedience to the next pontiff.
"I will continue to be close to you in prayer, especially in the next few days...as you elect the new pope to whom I today declare my unconditional reverence and obedience," he said.
"In these past eight years we have lived with faith beautiful moments of radiant light in the path of the Church as well as moments when some clouds darkened the sky," he told cardinals gathered to bid him farewell, including most of those who will enter a conclave to choose his successor.
"We tried to serve Christ and his Church," he said.
Benedict's papacy was dogged by sex abuse scandals, leaks of his private papers and reports of infighting among his closest aides, crises that are thought to have contributed to his decision to be the first pontiff in six centuries to resign.
The pope spoke to the cardinals about nine hours before he officially steps down, leaving the papacy vacant until the new head of the Roman Catholic Church is chosen by the cardinals, a decision expected by the middle of March.
"I will continue to be close to you in prayer, especially in the next few days...as you elect the new pope to whom I today declare my unconditional reverence and obedience," he said.
"In these past eight years we have lived with faith beautiful moments of radiant light in the path of the Church as well as moments when some clouds darkened the sky," he told cardinals gathered to bid him farewell, including most of those who will enter a conclave to choose his successor.
Benedict's papacy was dogged by sex abuse scandals, leaks of his private papers and reports of infighting among his closest aides, crises that are thought to have contributed to his decision to be the first pontiff in six centuries to resign.
Advertisement
© Thomson Reuters 2013
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Dostoevsky To Proust, Pope Francis Lists His Favourite Authors Pope Francis To Become 1st Catholic Church Head To Address G7 Leaders On Good Friday, PM Modi Remembers Jesus Christ's "Profound Sacrifice" Indian Airports, Borders On Alert As Global Mpox Cases Rise: 10 Points Finances Of Kolkata Hospital During Ex-Principal's Tenure Under Scanner UK Tech Tycoon Missing After Superyacht Sinks Off Sicily In Italy Biden To Pass Torch To Kamala Harris At Democratic Convention: 10 Points US Approves $3.5 Billion Sale Of Military Helicopters To South Korea Watch: Rahul Gandhi Takes An Uber To Share Plight Of Gig Workers Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.