The Vatican announced Monday that Pope Benedict XVI is stepping down on Feb. 28. The spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics,
Pope Benedict XVI, surprised the world Monday by saying he will resign at the end of the month "
because of advanced age."
It's the first time a pope has stepped down in nearly 600 years. The move, announced without warning, will take place on
28 February and leave the papacy vacant until a successor is chosen. The decision sets the stage for a conclave to elect a new pope
before the end of March. The
85-year-old pope announced his decision in Latin during a meeting of
Vatican cardinals on Monday morning. He emphasized that carrying out the duties of being pope — the leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide — requires "
both strength of mind and body."
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict would resign after nearly eight years as the head of the
Catholic Church because he was too old to continue at the age of 85.
Pope Benedict is the first Pope to resign since
Pope Gregory XII in 1415, who was trying to end the
Western Schism, in which three people claimed the
Papal throne. While such
papal resignations are extremely rare — only four out of 266 have stepped down — there are precedents in the two millennia history of the
Catholic Church. Following are the names of Popes who resigned or quit:-
- Marcellinus: This early church pope abdicated or was deposed in 304 after complying with the Roman emperor's order to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods.
- Benedict IX: Sold the papacy to his godfather Gregory VI and resigned in 1045.
- Celestine V: Overwhelmed by the demands of the office, this hermetic pontiff stepped down after five months as pope in 1294. Pope Benedict XVI prayed at his tomb in the central Italian city of L'Aquila in 2009.
- Gregory XII: The last pope to resign, Gregory XII stepped down in 1415 to help end a church schism.
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