VATICAN CITY: Cardinals around the world began informal contacts to discuss who should next lead the Church through a period of major crisis and the Vatican said it planned a big send-off for Pope Benedict before he becomes the first pontiff in centuries to resign.
At a news conference on how the pope plans to spend the next two weeks before he steps out of the limelight, the Vatican also disclosed that the 85-year-old Benedict has been wearing a pacemaker since before he was elected pope in 2005.
It said no specific illness led him to resign, merely old age and diminishing mental and physical strength.
It also said he would not play any role in the running of the Church after his February 28 resignation.
“The pope has said in his declaration that he will use his time for prayer and reflection and will not have any responsibility for guidance of the Church or any administrative or government responsibility,” said Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi.
Today, the pope was to have led a traditional Ash Wednesday service at a small church in Rome but the event has been moved to St Peter’s Basilica for what will likely be his last Mass in public.
His last general audience, scheduled for the day before his resignation, has been moved from the Vatican’s audience hall, which has a capacity of some 10,000 people, to St Peter’s Square, which can hold hundreds of thousands.
After he leaves office on February 28, he will go first to the papal summer residence south of Rome and then to a cloistered convent inside the Vatican walls, exchanging the splendour of his 16th century Apostolic Palace for a sober modern residence.
In mid-March, some 115 cardinals will enter the Sistine Chapel to elect the next leader of Roman Catholics. Cardinals lose their right to enter a conclave when they turn 80 so the exact number will depend on the day of the start of the conclave.
REUTERS
