VATICAN CITY
The Guardian (United Kingdom)

Lizzy Davies in Vatican City
The Guardian, Wednesday 27 February 2013

As his papacy entered its final hours, Pope Benedict XIV admitted on Wednesday that his eight-year spell as head of the Roman Catholic church had had its “difficult moments” when he felt that God “seemed to be sleeping”.

Before tens of thousands of pilgrims in St Peter’s square who had come to hear his final general audience, the outgoing pope looked tired but serene as he thanked believers for understanding his decision to resign “for the good of the church”.

Smiling and waving from an open-sided car, he toured the square, stopping occasionally to bless babies.

In a very personal homily, which differed in tone from his usual Wednesday messages, Benedict recalled that, when he agreed to become pope on 19 April 2005, he felt the calling placed “a great burden”…