In an unusually public outpouring for such a private man, he alluded to some of the most difficult times of his papacy, which was dogged by sex abuse scandals, leaks of his private papers, and reports of infighting among his closest aides.
“Thank you, I am very moved,” the Pope told a cheering crowd of more than 150,000 people in St Peter’s Square before he steps down this evening — the first pope to do so in six centuries.
He said he had great trust in the Church’s future, that his abdication was for the good of the Church, and asked for prayers for cardinals choosing his successor at a time of crisis.
The Vatican said the address — repeatedly interrupted by applause and cries of “Benedict, Benedict” — was the last by the Pope, who, as of this evening, will have the title “pope emeritus”.
“There were moments of joy and light but also moments that were not easy... There were moments, as there were throughout the history of the Church, when the seas were rough and the wind blew against us and it seemed that the lord was sleeping,” he said.
When he finished, the crowd, which spilled over into surrounding streets and included many of the red-hatted cardinals who will elect his successor ina closed-doors conclave next month, stood to applaud.
“I took this step in the full knowledge of its gravity and rarity but with a profound serenity of spirit,” he said.
Loving the Church meant “having the courage to take difficult and anguished choices, always having in mind the good of the Church and not oneself”.
The Pope said he was too old and weak to continue leading a Church beset by crises over child abuse by priests and a leak of Vatican documents showing corruption and rivalry among Vatican officials.
He said he was not “coming down from the cross” but would serve the Church through prayer. Some of those who have faulted Benedict for resigning have pointed to the late Pope John Paul II, who said he would “not come down from the cross” despite his bad health because he believed his suffering could inspire others.
Many Catholics, as well as close papal aides, were stunned by Benedict’s decision on Feb 11 and concerned about its impact.
Most in the square were supportive of Benedict, who has become increasingly frail in the past few months.
“He did what he had to do in his conscience before God,” said Sr Carmel, who came with fellow nuns and members of her parish north of Rome.
“This is a day in which we are called to trust in the lord, a day of hope,” she said. “There is no room for sadness here today. We have to pray, there are many problems in the Church but we have to trust in the lord.”
Not everybody agreed.
“He was a disaster. It’s good for everyone that he resigned,” said Peter McNamara, 61, an Australian of Irish descent who said he had come to the square “to witness history”.
Benedict will move to the papal summer residence south of Rome tonight and later to a convent in the Vatican.
He will lay aside the red “shoes of the fisherman” that have been part of his papal attire and wear brown loafers given to him by shoemakers during a trip to León, Mexico, last year. He will wear a “simple white cassock”, the Vatican said.
His lead seal and ring of office, known as the “ring of the fisherman”, will be destroyed according to Church rules, just as if he had died.