Pope: Stepping down as 'God told me to go'

February 25, 2013 13:11

In an emotional goodbye to 100,000 supporters, Pope Benedict XVI said that he steeping down as God had told him to devote himself to prayer.

During Sunday prayer in St Peter''s Square, where tens of thousands of supporters turned out for Benedict XVI''s ahead of his formal resignation, the Pope also assured people that he would not 'abandon' the Church.

According to Sky News, he thanked the crowd with a final unscripted call, telling them: "We will always be close."

The 85-year-old leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics has said he is stepping down because he no longer has the strength of mind and body to carry on.

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