Pope Benedict XVI Suddenly Tenders Resignation

German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican department which oversees the Orthodoxy of Roman Catholic teachings, after issuing a major document attacking test tube fertilization and other methods of artificial conception as immoral and warning scientists not to usurp God's power over life and death, is seen here at a news conference in the Vatican Press Room March 10, 1987.

Pope Benedict on Monday, February 11, 2013 announced his resignation saying he will step down at 8:00 PM, February 28, 2013, eight years after taking office. “After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” Pope Benedict said. Meanwhile, upon the Pope's sudden and shocking announcement, Cardinal Roger Mahony made an announcement in Los Angeles saying he will help elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, and that he looks forward to travelling to Rome to be part of the conclave that will elect a new pope. Pope Benedict XVI is the first pope to resign in 600 years.

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