• published: 11 Feb 2013
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The pope has resigned. Eighty-five year old Benedict XVI astonished cardinals in the Vatican with the surprise announcement, in Latin, that he does not feel strong enough to head the Roman Catholic Church. He said he would step down on the last day of this month. Benedict's papacy has been marked by controversy and scandal -- most notably he upset Muslims with a lecture and persistent revelations of child sex abuse by Catholic priests. The last time a pope quit office was six centuries ago in the middle ages. Writer John Thavis, who has been covering the goings-on there for 30 years said: "I think it does leave the church with a lot of questions. The church has not really had a situation of two popes in many centuries. Obviously it won't really be two popes, one will have resigned, but it is going to be hard for people to forget that Pope Benedict is still alive and he is still perhaps writing, still perhaps expressing himself." Already the bookies are taking bets on who will be the next pope. Ghana's Peter Turkson is one of two Africans topping the list of odds-on favourites. Also with the frontrunners is Canadian Marc Ouellet, but there are also names from Latin America being mentioned, raising the prospect that the next leader of 1.2 billion Catholics will not be from Europe for the first time ever. Vatican sources said that as the Pope has not died there is obviously no need for the traditional nine days of mourning, but there will be a Conclave to select a new pope before the end of March.. The 85-year-old said he took the decision due to old age. In a statement delivered to the Vatican he said: "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." "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." No specific illness The Vatican's spokesman said Pope Benedict has no specific illness and his decision to resign was taken with no outside pressure. Father Federico Lombardi explained that the Pope's decision was not due to an illness but to a progressive decline in his strength which was normal in a man of his age. "In the last few months he has seen a decline in vigour, both of the body and spirit," Lombardi told reporters. "It was his personal decision taken with full freedom, which deserves maximum respect," he added. Lombardi said the Pope had not decided to resign because of "difficulties in the papacy" and the move had been a surprise, indicating that even his inner circle was unaware that he was about to quit. The Pope does not fear schism in the Church after his resignation, the spokesman said. Turbulent times Elected on April 19 2005 at the age of 78, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was one of the oldest men to take on the position in the history of the Catholic church. He has had to oversee some of the most turbulent times for the Catholic Church in recent years, as a scandal was breaking about child sex abuse by priests. He has also been at the centre of the so called "Vatileaks" scandal over the leaking of his private papers by his personal butler. Pope Benedict has proved to be a divisive figure. While conservatives cheered him for getting back to traditional Catholic values, his critics accused him of turning back the clock on reforms by nearly half a century and damaging dialogue with Muslims, Jews and other Christians. 'Difficult decision' Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she fully respected German-born Pope Benedict's decision to resign because of his frailty. "If the Pope himself, after thorough reflection, has come to the conclusion that he doesn't have the strength anymore to carry out his duties, then this has my utmost respect," Merkel said in a brief statement at the Chancellery in Berlin. "He had to make a difficult decision." 'A heavy heart' The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual head of the global 80-million-strong Anglican Communion, said: "It was with a heavy heart but complete understanding that we learned this morning of Pope Benedict's declaration of his decision to lay down the burden of ministry as Bishop of Rome, an office which he has held with great dignity, insight and courage." Welby said he gave thanks to God for Benedict's life "utterly dedicated, in word and deed, in prayer and in costly service, to following Christ."