By editor - 27 February, 2013
What has been described as the largest crowd since the death of Pope John Paul II, packed St Peter’s Square for Pope Benedict XVI’s final General Audience. Present was more than 150,000 people ranging from mothers who had left their children to school, young people with drums, groups with banners, priests of the Diocese of Rome, clergy, nuns and lay people from all over the world, and scores of Cardinals who have already arrived for the conclave.
The Holy Father moved among the thousands present smiling and waving from his Popemobile. One live tweet from St Peter’s Square stated: “The long tour of the Popemobile looks like a hug of @#B16 (Benedict XVI) to all of us present here in the square.”
Another tweet said “There’s a myriad of people in feast who want to gather around the Pope.”
Yet another stated that people were present “To live an important moment of history.”
Benedict XVI’s first greeting was to thank people for coming in such large numbers and he said: “Thank you, I am truly moved! And I see the Church is alive! I think we also have to thank the Creator for the beautiful weather that He is giving us now, even in winter.”
He went on to speak at length stating he wanted to embrace the whole Church throughout the world and he thanked God for the “love that truly circulates in the Body of the Church”.
He said that during the eight years since his election the Lord had guided him and he felt God’s presence every day. He said that like St. Peter and the Apostles in the boat on the Sea of Galilee: “The Lord has given us many days of sunshine and light breezes, days when the fishing was plentiful, but also times when the water was rough and the winds against us, just as throughout the whole history of the Church, when the Lord seemed to be sleeping. But I always knew that the Lord is in that boat and I always knew that the boat of the Church is not mine, not ours, but is His. And the Lord will not let it sink.”
He expressed the wish that everyone would feel “the joy of being Christian.” He thanked everyone who helped and worked with him during the last eight years, and those who had sent good wishes and letters in recent times. “They write to me as brothers and sisters or as sons and daughters, with the sense of a very affectionate family tie. In this you can touch what the Church is—not an organization, not an association for religious or humanitarian ends, but a living body, a communion of brothers and sisters in the Body of Jesus Christ who unites us all.”
He said he had taken the step of resignation “in full awareness of its seriousness and also its newness, but with a profound peace of mind. Loving the Church also means having the courage to make difficult, agonized choices, always keeping in mind the good of the Church, not of oneself.”
He also stated that for him there is no return to private life.
“I am not returning to private life, to a life of trips, meetings, receptions, conferences, etc. I am not abandoning the cross, but am remaining beside the Crucified Lord in a new way. I no longer bear the power of the office for the governance of the Church, but I remain in the service of prayer, within St. Peter’s paddock, so to speak.”
Maria Voce, president of Focolare was present in St Peter’s Square with a group said at the end of the audience “It was great, very emotional. The Pope left us with faith… a sign of new, of positive”
A video addressed to the Pope with the title: “For the 85 year-old young man,” has gone viral, receiving more than 50,000 views on YouTube in just five days. The brainchild of young people from Spain the video involves young people from around the world who thank Pope Benedict for his “teachings of reason, faith and humility,” as well as for showing them the “tenderness of Christ” and offering a sincere witness of hope, generosity and courage. They reminded the Holy Father that they are praying for him.
By Ann Marie Foley