Benedict waves farewell

It was an historic announcement that stunned both his inner circle and the wider religious world.

As Pope Benedict became the first pontiff in almost 600 years to resign, Church officials tried to relay a climate of calm confidence, cognisant that the decision could lead to even greater instability in a Church besieged by scandal and defections.

During Benedict’s eight-year tenure, the Church was rocked by child sexual abuse crises and Muslim anger after the Pope compared Islam to violence. Jews were upset over the rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier and there was scandal over the leaking of the Pope’s private papers by his personal butler.