VATICAN CITY- — Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday asked the tens of thousands of people who had flocked to St. Peter’s Square to see one of his last public appearances to pray for him and his successor.
Riccardo De Luca/Associated Press
An emotional crowd of well-wishers greeted Pope Benedict XVI as he gave his weekly blessing in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.
Franco Origlia/Getty Images
The pope delivered a blessing from the window of his private apartment.
Speaking from his window in the Apostolic Palace, the pope did not make any direct references to his startling decision to resign, effective Feb. 28. But in his greetings to pilgrims in various languages, he called on them in Spanish to “continue praying for me and for the next pope.”
Thousands — some 50,000 according to Italian news media — filled the square this mild, hazy Sunday morning. They cheered for the pope, calling out “Viva il Papa!” — long live the Pope — and clapping out his name rhythmically: “Be-Ne-De-To!”
Dozens of homemade banners — mostly sheets stapled to wooden planks — swayed throughout the square, each an expression of affection for a pope who stunned the world earlier this week with his unexpected decision to retire, which will make him the first pope to do so in 600 years. “With the pope forever” and “We love you very much,” some banners read.
One seminarian at the front of the crowd held up a simple board that said: “We’ll miss you.”
“He’s meant a lot to me and to other Roman Catholics, it’s important to pay our respects to him before we begin to speak too much about the next pope,” said Mark Baumgarten, a seminarian from Perth Australia, studying in Rome.
In his address, which centered on the beginning of the season of Lent, for Christians a 40-day period of reflection before Easter, the pope called on the church and its members to refocus on God, “repudiating pride and egotism.”
“In the decisive moments of life — indeed, if we look closely, in every moment — we are at a crossroads. Do we want to follow the self, or God? Individual interest or the real good?” he said.
“I was moved, he touched my heart,” said Francesca Della Penna, a Roman who had come to hear the pope with her parish, wanting to be close after his decision to retire, which she called “a courageous decision dictated by prayer, a true message of faith.”
On Sunday evening, the pope retired for a weeklong Lenten spiritual retreat with the members of his household and cardinals and bishop.
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, is scheduled to preach during the retreat. The pope will not have any public engagements until next Saturday, when he will meet with the President of Italy.
In the meantime, cardinals will gather in Rome in preparation for the conclave to elect his successor. Church law states that a conclave must start between 15 and 20 days after the papacy becomes vacant. But on Saturday, the Vatican spokesman, the Reverend Federico Lombardi said that discussions were ongoing at the Vatican to determine whether the resignation left room to interpret the rules to see if the conclave could begin earlier.
Though support for the pope was widely expressed in St. Peter’s Square, not everyone was happy with his decision.
“We want the pope to remain with us. We think he’s good for the church today, which needs to defend values like life and the family and fight relativism,” said GiovanBattista Varricchio, a political science student at the University of Rome and a member of the Catholic movement “Militia Christi.” “We came because we hope that we can convince him to change his mind.”
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