Pope Benedict To Step Down As Leader Of The Catholic Church.Read His Resignation Speech Below.

Pope Benedict XVI is to stand down as leader of the Catholic church, it was announced today.
The 85-year-old Pontiff said his strength was 'no longer adequate to continue in office due to his advanced age'.
He said: 'I have had to recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.'
He said he was making the decision in 'full freedom' but was 'fully aware of the gravity of this gesture'.
A Vatican spokesman said he will retire on February 28.

Pope Benedict XVI is to stand down as leader of the Catholic church, it was announced today
Further details of his resignation are not yet clear, but the decision is highly unusual as the vast majority of incumbents die in office.
A spokesman for the German government said that he was 'moved' by news of the Pope's resignation.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI when he took office at the age of 78 in April 2005 after succeeding Pope John Paul II.
Ratzinger's stern leadership of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the modern successor to the Inquisition, delighted conservative Catholics but upset moderates and other Christians whose churches he described as deficient.

Pope Benedict XVI meets members of the Order of the Knights of Malta after the Mass to mark the 900th anniversary of the Order in Vatican City on Saturday. He said his health is too weak to continue in office
POPE BENEDICT'S RESIGNATION STATEMENT IN FULL

Dear Brothers,
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church.
After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.
I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering.
However, in today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both 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 recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.
For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects.
And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff.
With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

Born in Bavaria on April 16, 1927, Ratzinger was a leading theology professor and then archbishop of Munich before taking over the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1981.
In that office, Ratzinger disciplined Latin American 'liberation theology' theologians, denounced homosexuality and gay marriage and pressured Asian priests who saw non-Christian religions as part of God's plan for humanity.
In a document in 2000, he branded other Christian churches as deficient - shocking Anglicans, Lutherans and other Protestants in ecumenical dialogue with Rome for years.
As dean of the College of Cardinals, he presided over John Paul's funeral Mass and the daily meetings of cardinals to discuss the next papacy.

Pope Benedict XVI (left) during a service in Saint Peter's Basilica to mark 900th anniversary of the Order in Vatican City
Ratzinger was the oldest cardinal to be named pope since Clement XII, who was also 78 when he became pope in 1730. He is the first German pope since Victor II (1055-1057).
Pope Gregory XII was the last pope to resign, standing down in in the last 600 years.
Pope Gregory XII was the last pope resign when he quit in 1415 during the Western Schism when three people claimed the papal throne.
They were Roman Pope Gregory XII, Avignon Pope Benedict XIII and Antipope John XXIII.
After being chosen to be pope in Rome in 1406 he said that if Benedict renounced his claim to the papacy, he would renounce his.
They tried to negotiate but cardinals at the Council of Pisa rejected both their claims, instead chosing Alexander V.
Gregory XII created 10 more cardinals and set up a rival council.
That was deemed invalid and the Council of Constance finally appointed Gregory XII. His resignation to end the Western Schism was announced by protector Carlo I Malatesta
Source DailyMail