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Pope Benedict XVI’s Pontificate is over

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The pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. has come to an end. The period of the Sede Vacante (“empty chair”) has officially begun on Thursday 8:00 p.m., and ends with the election of a new Pope.

At exactly 8:00 pm, the door of the Papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, 30 kilometres south of Rome, whereto Benedict had retired on Friday, was closed. Benedict XVI. is now an Emeritus Pope. The Swiss Guard withdrew from Castel Gandolfo. Their mission is to protect the reigning Pope.

At the same time the Cardinal Chamberlain (Camerlengo) of the Roman Church, Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone (78), sealed Benedict XVI’s apartment, on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, and the elevator that leads there. It is the same ceremony as after the death of a Pope. The rooms remain closed until the election of a successor. Also Benedict’s fisherman’s ring  has no function anymore.

“I am only a pilgrim”

Benedict is the first Pope of modern times who resigned from his post.It has yet not been determined When his successor will be chosen. In many countries, there where held commemoration services, for the farewell of the Pope.

As the last public act of his pontificate, Benedict appeared at 5:38 pm on the Loggia of the Palace in Castel Gandolfo outside Rome and greeted the faithful gathered there. He spread the arms and was celebrated with loud cheers, “Benedetto” calls and colorful banners. “I am no Pope any longer, I am simply a pilgrim”, he said,  blessing the faithful. And then: “Good night.”

At 8:00 pm, the portal of the residence was closed as a symbolic sign of the end of the pontificate. Once again there were “Viva il Papa”  calls and all bells were rung in Castel Gandolfo.

gandolfo-door

Farewell at the Vatican

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Pope Benedict XVI’s Farewell Speech Transcript

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Pope Benedict XVI. gave his final General audience address in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, just a day before his voluntary resignation.

Pope-farewell-speech

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood!
Distinguished Authorities!
Dear brothers and sisters!
Thank you for coming in such large numbers to this last General Audience of my pontificate.

Like the Apostle Paul in the Biblical text that we have heard, I feel in my heart that I have to especially thank God who guides and builds up the Church, who plants His Word and thus nourishes the faith in His People. At this moment my heart expands and embraces the whole Church throughout the world and I thank God for the ‘news’ that, in these years of my Petrine ministry, I have received about the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for the love that truly circulates in the Body of the Church, making it to live in the love and the hope that opens us to and guides us towards the fullness of life, towards our heavenly homeland.

I feel I ought to carry everyone in prayer, in a present that is God’s, where I recall every meeting, every voyage, every pastoral visit. I gather everyone and every thing in prayerful recollection, in order to entrust them to the Lord: in order that we might have full knowledge of His will, with every wisdom and spiritual understanding, and in order that we might comport ourselves in a manner that is worthy of Him, of His, bearing fruit in every good work (cf. Col 1:9-10).

At this moment I have great confidence because I know, we all know, that the Gospel’s Word of truth is the strength of the Church; it is her life. The Gospel purifies and renews, bearing fruit, wherever the community of believers hears it and welcomes God’s grace in truth and in love. This is my confidence, this is my joy.

When, on 19 April almost eight years ago I accepted to take on the Petrine ministry, I had the firm certainty that has always accompanied me: this certainty for the life of the Church from the Word of God. At that moment, as I have already expressed many times, the words that resounded in my heart were: Lord, what do You ask of me? It is a great weight that You are placing on my shoulders but, if You ask it of me, I will cast my nets at your command, confident that You will guide me, even with all my weaknesses. And eight years later I can say that the Lord has guided me. He has been close to me. I have felt His presence every day. It has been a stretch of the Church’s path that has had moments of joy and light, but also difficult moments. I felt like St. Peter and the Apostles in the boat on the Sea of Galilee. The Lord has given us many days of sunshine and light breezes, days when the fishing was plentiful, but also times when the water was rough and the winds against us, just as throughout the whole history of the Church, when the Lord seemed to be sleeping. But I always knew that the Lord is in that boat and I always knew that the boat of the Church is not mine, not ours, but is His. And the Lord will not let it sink. He is the one who steers her, of course also through those He has chosen because that is how He wanted it. This was and is a certainty that nothing can tarnish. And that is why my heart today is filled with gratitude to God, because He never left—the whole Church or me—without His consolation, His light, or His love.

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Sede Vacante – Vatican issues medals, coins and stamps

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The Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office has announced that stamps will be issued after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI., during the time were there is no Pope. The series with the note “Sede vacante 2013” will include four stamps with an identical motif and be valid only until the inauguration of the new Pope.

The stamps with a value of 70 cents for Italy, 85 cents for Europe and the Mediterranean, two euros for Africa, Asia and the United States and 2.5 euros for Australia will be issued at the Vatican post offices and in the Vatican pilgrimage Office in St. Peter’s square. A high collector’s value is expected.
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Open questions after “Vatileaks” and Pope’s resignation

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Vatican insiders wonder whether the scandal surrounding the unfaithful butler Paolo Gabriele has moved Benedict XVI. to resign. Many questions remain unanswered after the “Vatileaks” affair.

According to journalists and Pope biographer Peter Seewald, the “Vatileaks” affair was not the reason for Benedict XVI’s resignation. The betrayal of his long-time servant Paolo Gabriele had neither thrown the Pope off track, nor tired of office, Seewald reported after a conversation with Benedict XVI. at the summer residence in Castel Gandolfo last August. BBut the case of the stolen papal documents that have partly publicly accessible, is one of the most spectacular scandals in the entire history of the Vatican.

Rumours about reasons for Pope resignation

So far, there has never been faced a that close collaborator of the Pope with such serious allegations. Therefore it cannot be ruled out, that the bitterness in consequence of the scandal, as well as the factional infighting among the Cardinals in the Curia have encouraged the Pope in his decision to resign. On Thursday the Italian newspaper “La Repubblica” wrote, that some Cardinals might be susceptible to blackmail, referring to a secret report regarding the “Vatileaks” affair, that three Cardinals had presented to the Pope on December 17 2012.

The report of the three-member Cardinal Commission about the scandal continues to be officially kept secret. Therefore it is still not known through which of the many duplicate letters and reports the Pope might have been susceptible to blackmail. Further there are circulating speculations, that the Italian intelligence service had obtained the material.

Open questions

After the imposition of a mild 18-month prison sentence against Gabriele and his pardon before Christmas, there remain many unanswered  questions about possible accomplices and the motives that may have led the 46-year-olds to the systematic theft of confidential documents of the Pope.

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Tens of thousands celebrate Pope Benedict XVI.

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Emotional finale of Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate

Endless joy and cheering by tens of thousands of faithfull as the outgoing Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his farewell in his last Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s square in Rome. With his retirement from Office, he is complying with Gods wish, said the head of the Roman Catholic Church.general-audienceThe people celebrated the Pope during the Angelus prayer as in the week before with “Viva il papa”-calls and long applause. Benedict’s voice faltered again and again during his speech, and he was interrupted by cheers of the faithful. “Thank you, in prayer we are always close to each other”, Benedict called out. He thanked the pilgrims for their love and sympathy in this “special moment for me and the Church”.

“Continue to serve the Church”

God had called him to devote himself more to meditation and prayer, which did not mean that he was leaving the church, said the 85-year-old. “On the contrary, if God is calling me, it is because I can continue to serve the church with the same dedication and love as before, but in a more appropriate way for my age and my strength,” he said in his speech. With a view to the daily Gospel of the transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor, the Pope said that God had called him to “climb that mountain”.

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An insight into the Papal Conclave 2013

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The Pope election rules of the Roman Catholic Church regulate the Conclave to the smallest detail – including the nature of the ballot. Although black or white smoke are not mentioned.

“The ballots must be rectangular and must contain if possible in the upper half of the printed form the words: Eligo in Summum Pontificem, while the lower half must remain free to write the name of the selected here.” So it is written in section 65 of the Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis” of Pope John Paul II, the Pope’s election regulations currently in effect for the Conclave.

papal-ballotPapal voting card

But not only the nature of the ballot is regulated in detail. The Pope election rules dating back to 1996, which were changed in one point by Benedict XVI in 2007, contain some strict provisions, which go far beyond the election process itself.

The Dean of the College of Cardinals shall preside at the election, unless he is over 80 and thus no longer eligible to vote. In this case, he will be replaced by the Vice-Dean. If he is also over 80, the oldest of the highest ranking Cardinals takes over. This scenario will occur in the current conclave. Dean Angelo Sodano and Subdean Roger Etchegaray are over 80, so the 79-year-old retired Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops Giovanni Battista Re will take over the presidency of the conclave.

Room distribution by lot

During the conclave, the cardinals will reside in the premises of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the guest house of the Vatican. The rooms are – mandatory by the electoral law – allocated by lottery. In addition to the Cardinals a few more people are involved, who need to swear under oath their ‘obligation to secrecy’. These include, among others, “two doctors for emergencies”, “some religious priests of different languages ​​for confession” and “an appropriate number” of people “for service and cleaning.”

What happens behind the doors of the Sistine Chapel, is to stay there. The Electoral Code provides a number of steps to prevent eavesdropping.

sistine-chapelSistine chapel

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Standing ovations in St. Peter’s

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Call for “renewal and conversion”

This years Ash Wednesday in Rome is all about the demise of Pope Benedict XVI., who retires at the end of February from the highest office of the Catholic Church. In the evening, after the general Audience, the Pope celebrated his last Ash Wednesday liturgy before numerous church dignitaries and thousands of believers. He was greeted with thunderous applause.

In his sermon Benedict XVI. issued a call for renewal and conversion during Lent the worshipers. This just serves to renew the conversation and concrete actions. “Today, many are ready to tear down their clothes in the face of scandals and injustices – which were of course committed by others – but few seem only willing to work on one’s own heart, one’s own conscience and their own intentions, and thereby leave the conversion, renovation and conversion to the Lord, “said Benedict XVI.

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Division warning

It is important to remember this and to live that  this Lent: Everyone should be aware that the path of penance could not be overcome alone, but together with the many brothers and sisters in the Church, the Pope said.

“I think especially of the sin against the unity of the Church, to the divisions in the body of the Church,” the Pope said. “To live Lent in a more intense and visible ecclesial community and overcome the individualism and rivalries, is a humble and precious testimony to those who turned away from faith or are indifferent.”

Mass moved to St. Peter’s

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