Pope’s resignation: Health concerns ruled out

billion Roman Catholics.
The pontiff is resigning because he does not feel he has the strength to continue, the Rev Federico Lombardi said, adding that it was a “spiritual” decision.

Lombardi emphasised that Benedict remains pope until February 28, when his resignation takes effect.
He dismissed reports in an Italian newspaper that the pope’s decision was linked to a medical intervention to replace the battery in his pacemaker, saying that had been a routine procedure.

Pope Benedict has had the pacemaker since he was a cardinal, he added.
Pope Benedict’s service will end at 8pm on February 28 but he will continue his work as planned until then, Lombardi said, including an important meeting with the cardinals and priests tomorrow.

He will hold a final audience in Vatican City’s St Peter’s Square on February 27, the day before he officially steps down, Lombardi said.

The Vatican does not yet know when cardinals will meet in a conclave to decide who will replace Benedict, Lombardi said.

Vatican experts are studying legal documents on the subject, he explained. But the conclave is likely to come between 15 and 20 days after the pontiff steps down, he said.

It’s the first time a pope has stood down in nearly 600 years. The pope said Monday he would resign “because of advanced age.”

“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 recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me,” said Benedict (85), according to the Vatican.

Lombardi said on Monday that a new pope would be in place before Easter is celebrated at the end of March.

The pope, born Joseph Ratzinger, will first head to the pope’s summer residence before he likely retires to a monastery and devotes himself to a life of reflection and prayer, Lombardi said.

He won’t be involved in managing the church after his resignation.
Benedict’s decision has inevitably prompted frenzied speculation over who might assume the papacy in his place. — CNN.