UPI en Español  |   UPI Asia  |   About UPI  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Retired pope to stay 'hidden to the world'

|
 
Pope Benedict XVI leads the mass for Ash Wednesday, opening Lent, the forty-day period of abstinence and deprivation for the Christians, before the Holy Week and Easter, on February 13, 2013 in the Vatican. UPI/Stefano Spaziani
Pope Benedict XVI leads the mass for Ash Wednesday, opening Lent, the forty-day period of abstinence and deprivation for the Christians, before the Holy Week and Easter, on February 13, 2013 in the Vatican. UPI/Stefano Spaziani 
License photo
Updated Feb. 14, 2013 at 11:57 AM
Published: Feb. 14, 2013 at 11:53 AM

ROME, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Retiring Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday he will be "hidden in the world" after he steps down at the end of February.

The pope made the declaration during his final visit with local clergy at the Vatican, ANSA reported.

"Even if I step down now I am always close in prayer and you will all be close even if I remain hidden to the world," he said.

Saying he would be with the clerics in spirit, Benedict added: "Let us hope that the Lord will help us. I, retired in prayer, will always be with you. And we will go forth with the Lord in the certainty that the Lord will conquer."

The priests could not hold back their tears as Cardinal Agostino Vallini introduced the pope.

Benedict received resounding applause as he thanked them "for your affection and great love for the pope."

Topics: Pope Benedict XVI
Recommended Stories
© 2013 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
'Star Trek Into Darkness' screening NBC upfronts Met Ball 2013
'Great Gatsby' premieres in New York Spire raised on top of One WTC 2013: Celebrity break ups and divorces
Additional World News Stories
1 of 17
Tornado recover efforts underway in Moore, Oklahoma
View Caption
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin talks to victims from the May 20 tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, May 22, 2013. The EF-5 tornado cut a path of destruction approximately 17 miles by 1.3 miles wide and left 24 people dead. UPI/J.P. Wilson
fark
Teen wins contest by producing blandest, most sterile cursive writing imaginable
Theme of Farktography Contest No. 420: "Monochromatic Masterpieces". Details and rules in first...
Photographer snaps a really great picture of a guy proposing to his lady on a cliff, decides to...
New thinga-ma-hooey keeps people from being abusive and neglecting their beer
"You are going to lose", says London woman. Unknown if the armed terrorist she was directly confronting...
PNG becomes GIF, Oswald's keyboard player honored by the Dallas PD, and Marcus Bachmann finds happiness:...