Pope, nearing retirement, says pray 'for me and next pope'

The crowd chanted “Long live the pope!,” waved banners and broke into sustained applause as he spoke from his window. The 85-year-old Benedict, who will resign on Feb. 28, thanked them in several languages.

Speaking in Spanish, he told the crowd which the Vatican said numbered more than 50,000: “I beg you to continue praying for me and for the next pope.”

It was not clear why the pope chose Spanish to make the only specific reference to his upcoming resignation in his Sunday address.

A number of cardinals have said they would be open to the possibility of a pope from the developing world, be it Latin America, Africa or Asia, as opposed to another from Europe, where the Catholic Church is in crisis and polarized.

After his address, the pope retired into the Vatican's Apostolic Palace for a scheduled, weeklong spiritual retreat and will not make any more public appearances until next Sunday.

Speaking in Italian in part of his address about Lent, the period when Christians reflect on their failings and seek guidance in prayer, the pope spoke of the difficulty of making important decisions.

“In decisive moments of life, or, on closer inspection, at every moment in life, we are at a crossroads: do we want to follow the 'I' or God? The individual interest or the real good, that which is really good?” he said.

Consultations Begun

1|2|Next Page>>

SHARE CLOSE
Blogger		Google+
Live Journal		Plurk
Stumble Upon

Tweet

	PREVIOUS ARTICLE
	NATO 'will comply with Afghan airstrike ban'

NEXT ARTICLE
Cyprus chooses leader as bailout looms

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email

Submit