As our colleagues, Rachel Donadio and Alan Cowell report, Pope Benedict XVI held his final general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday a day before before he withdraws from public life for a cloistered life of prayer and meditation.
Before tens of thousands of people gathered in the square, the Pope acknowledged the difficulties he faced during his papacy, describing “moments of joy and light but also moments that were not easy.â€
From the
When, almost eight years ago, on April 19th, [2005], I agreed to take on the Petrine ministry, I held steadfast in this certainty, which has always accompanied me. In that moment, as I have already stated several times, the words that resounded in my heart were: “Lord, what do you ask of me It a great weight that You place on my shoulders, but, if You ask me, at your word I will throw out the nets, sure that you will guide me†- and the Lord really has guided me. He has been close to me: daily could I feel His presence.
[These years] have been a stretch of the Church’s pilgrim way, which has seen moments joy and light, but also difficult moments. I have felt like St. Peter with the Apostles in the boat on the Sea of Galilee: the Lord has given us many days of sunshine and gentle breeze, days in which the catch has been abundant; [then] there have been time! s when the seas were rough and the wind against us, as in the whole history of the Church it has ever been - and the Lord seemed to sleep. Nevertheless, I always knew that the Lord is in the barque, that the barque of the Church is not mine, not ours, but His - and He shall not let her sink. It is He, who steers her: to be sure, he does so also through men of His choosing, for He desired that it be so. This was and is a certainty that nothing can tarnish. It is for this reason, that today my heart is filled with gratitude to God, for never did He leave me or the Church without His consolation, His light, His love.
On Twitter, the Pope’s account, @Pontifex, with more than 1.5 million followers, posted:
Shortly after he announced his resignation, he asked on Twitter for people “to pray for me and for the Church, trusting as always in divine Providence.â€
From St. Peter’s square, people posted photographs from the crowd, including a shot of the Pope arriving in the so-called “popemobileâ€, on his way to deliver his final farewell.
Pius Pietrzyk, a Dominican priest from the United States, shared multiple photos from the square on his blog, and wrote about his experience in the square and the words in the Pope’s farewell address that touched him the mos..
I followed what I could of the audience in Italian. (It is already available onlline) A number of lines struck me, but more than anything else probably was when he said, “the Barque of the Church is not mine, it’s not our’s, it’s His and he will not let it flounder.â€
As my colleague, Laurie Goodstein reports, the church faces, among its many challenges as cardinals gather to select a new pope, the wounds caused by sexual abuse cases involving minors all over the world that have been mishandled for years.
In St. Peter’s Square, the Pope also spoke briefly in English to the crowd.
I offer a warm and affectionate greeting to the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors who have joined me for this, my last General Audience. Like Saint Paul, whose words we heard earlier, my heart is filled with thanksgiving to God who ever watches over his Church and her growth in faith and love, and I embrace all of you with joy and gratitude. During this Year of Faith, we have been called to renew our joyful trust in the Lord’s presence in our lives and in the life of the Church. I am personally grateful for his unfailing love and guidance in the eight years since I accepted his call to serve as the Successor of Peter. I am also deeply grateful for the understanding, support and prayers of so many of you, not only here in Rome, but also throughout the world.
The decision I have made, after much prayer, is the fruit of a serene trust in God’s will and a deep love of Christ’s Church. I will continue to accompany the Church with my prayers, and I ask each of you topray for me and for the new Pope. In union with Mary and all the saints, let us entrust ourselves in faith and hope to God, who continues to watch over our lives and to guide the journey of the Church and our world along the paths of history. I commend all of you, with great affection, to his loving care, asking him to strengthen you in the hope which opens our hearts to the fullness of life that he alone can give. To you and your families, I impart my blessing. Thank you!
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