The surprising retirement of Pope Benedict XVI left many asking the one million dollar question: Why did he resign?
Prior to delivering his weekly General Audience on Wednesday, February 13, the Holy Father spent some time explaining his decision to step down from the Petrine office.  In front of the thousands of pilgrims which literally packed the huge Paul VI hall Pope Ratzinger said that his decision to withdraw from the papacy stemmed from his ardent love for the Church. He said: “I did this in full freedom for the good of the Church, after having prayed at length and having examined my conscience before God, well aware of the seriousness of the act, but equally conscious of no longer being able to carry out the Petrine ministry with the strength that it requires.”
On that occasion Pope Benedict XVI thanked the faithful for their prayers and the love they showered on him during these difficult days. He told them: “I have felt almost physically in these days, which are not easy for me, the power of prayer that the love of the Church, your prayer, is bringing me. Continue to pray for me, for the Church, for the future Pope, who will lead us.”
Thanks to his courageous and humble example the German Pope demonstrated another way of faithfulness to Jesus Christ and his Church. In recognizing his inability to continue ministering in the immensely demanding mission as Bishop of Rome the Holy Father set a powerful example for future Pontiffs to consider following. Resigning due to serious reasons of health and old age can be an act of great and faithful service to Christ’s flock. Moreover retirement also means accompanying the whole Church through offering one’s prayers and suffering for her spiritual wellbeing.
In front of an estimated crowd of 100,000 pilgrims which filled St. Peter's Square on Sunday, February 17, for his last midday Angelus speech, Pope Benedict began by stating that “the Church, who is mother and teacher, calls all of her members to renew themselves spiritually, to reorient themselves toward God, renouncing pride and egoism to live in love”. This means engaging responsibly within the constant battle against the forces of evil which try to hinder one’s journey to God.

The Pope said: “In this Year of Faith, Easter is a favorable time to rediscover faith in God as a basic criterion for our life and the life of the Church. This always means a struggle, a spiritual combat, because the evil spirit naturally opposes our sanctification and seeks to turn us away from the path to God. That is why each year on the first Sunday of Lent the Gospel narrative of Jesus’ temptation in the desert is proclaimed”.
Was the Pope not the first one to experience this tremendous struggle himself when considered renouncing to the office he held for almost eight years? Only God knows the spiritual, emotional and spiritual hardship he had to endure on his own! Notwithstanding this agonizing pain he secretly carried within himself he kept being a great inspiration for us all till the end precisely by humbly embracing the counsel he gave us in his last Angelus address.
“We too are not afraid to face combat with the evil spirit: the important point is that we do it with him, with Christ, the Victor. And to stand with him we turn to the Mother, Mary: let us invoke her
with filial confidence in the hour of trial, and she will make us feel the powerful presence of her divine Son, to reject the temptations with the Word of  Christ, and so to put God once again at the center
of our life”.

What a holy farewell!
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap

San Gwann