Extract of the historic farewell address: I am not abandoning the Cross
The Lord gave us days of sun and of light breeze, days in which the fishing was good. There were also moments when there were stormy waters and headwinds as was the case in the whole history of the church as if God was sleeping.’

But I always knew that God was in that boat and I always knew that the boat of the church is not mine, is not ours, but is His and He will not let it sink.

This was and is a certainty and nothing can obscure it. And that is why today my heart is filled with gratitude to God… I would like everyone to feel the joy of being a Christian.

Pope Benedict XVI (POPE EMERITUS)

In these last few months, I have felt my strength diminish and I have asked God with insistency in my prayers to illuminate me with his light and take the best decision.

I took this step (resignation) in full awareness of its gravity and novelty but with profound serenity of spirit. Loving the church  also means having the courage to make difficult, painful choices, always keeping the good of the church in mind and not ourselves.

The Pope is never alone; I feel that now once again in such a powerful way that it touches my heart. The Pope  belongs to every one and many people feel very close to him.

It is true that I received letters from the grandees of this world – from heads of state, from religious leaders, from representatives of the world of culture.

But I also receive many letters from ordinary people who write simply from their hearts and make me feel their affection, which stems from being together with Jesus Christ in the church.

These people write to me like brothers or sisters or sons or daughters with a very affectionate sense of family. This is where we can put a finger on what the church is – not an organisation, not an association for religious or humanitarian ends, but a  living body.

Who ever assumes the petrine ministry no longer has any privacy? He belongs forever and totally to everyone, to the whole church.

My decision to renounce the active practice of my ministry does not change this. I am not returning to a private life- a life of trips, meetings, receptions and conferences. I am not abandoning the cross but I am  remaining in a new way next to the crucified Lord. I no longer have the power of the office of the government of the church but I will remain in service of prayer within, as it were, the enclosure of St. Peter’s.

I also thank each and every one of you for the respect and understanding with which you have received this important decision. I will continue to accompany the church’s journey through prayer and reflection, with the dedication of the Lord and His Bride that I have tried to live everyday up to now and that I want to always live. I ask you to remember me to God, and above all to pray for the cardinals who are called to such an important task and for the new successor of the Apostle Peter. May the Lord accompany him with the light and strength of His spirit.

We call upon the maternal intercession of Mary, the Mother of God and of the church, that she might accompany each of us and the entire ecclestial community. We entrust ourselves to her with deep confidence.

Dear friends, God guides His church, always sustaining her even and especially in difficult times. Let us never lose this vision of faith, which is the only true vision of the path of the church and of the world.

In our hearts, in the heart of each one of you, may there always be the joyous certainty that the Lord is beside us, that He does not abandon us, that He is near and embraces us with his love.

Thank you.