Benedict urges end to ‘religious hypocrisy’

Pope Benedict XVI urged an end to “religious hypocrisy” and “rivalry” in the Catholic Church as he donned his papal mitre for the last time at an emotional Mass in St Peter’s Basilica.

Wearing the purple robes of Lent, the pontiff was conveyed through the basilica’s vast nave on a mobile platform because of his growing infirmity.

Benedict urged the faithful to be sincere in their faith in his final Ash Wednesday Mass as leader of the world’s 1.2bn Catholics before he becomes the first pontiff to resign in 600 years.