Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation

Pope Benedict XVI has announced he is to resign blaming old age from preventing him from carrying on as head of the billion-strong Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Benedict XVI read a statement in Latin during a meeting of Vatican cardinals on Monday morning.

The 85-year-old pope's decision sets the stage for a conclave to elect a new pope before the end of March.

He emphasised that carrying out the duties of being Pope - the leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide - required "both strength of mind and body."

"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," he told the cardinals.

"I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only by 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 St Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary - strengths 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."

The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415 in a deal to end the Great Western Schism among competing papal claimants.

Read full statement: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/relig...

Get the latest headlines http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Subscribe to The Telegraph http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c...

Like us on Facebook   / telegraph.co.uk  
Follow us on Twitter   / telegraph  
Follow us on Google+ https://plus.google.com/1028913550727...

Telegraph.co.uk and    / telegraphtv   are websites of The Daily Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.