Pope Benedict XVI's Farewell Address and Final Appearance

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In this video we share Pope Benedict XVI's Farewell Address and Final Appearance.

On the stroke of 8 p m on Thursday February 28, 2013, as bells chimed and pilgrims stifled sobs, the Swiss guards who had been standing outside the apostolic palace of Castel Gandolfo retreated inside, their duty done.

The man they had come to protect, three hours before, was no longer eligible for their care.

In spectacular style through cloudless skies, he had arrived a pope.

But he was now, in his own words, "simply a pilgrim".

Benedict XVI, the conservative whose most revolutionary act in eight years of papacy was arguably the way in which he left it, was now the emeritus pope, as fallible as any other.

With no funeral and no mourning, the Holy See had become sede vacante.

In his final appearance as head of the Roman Catholic church, the 264th successor of Saint Peter greeted crowds of locals and pilgrims in this small hilltop town where, for 400 years, popes have been coming to spend their summers.

He had left the Vatican City at 5 p m, walking with a cane and bringing tears to the eyes of his entourage.

Thirty minutes later, after a helicopter ride that swept him over the finest sights of Rome, he emerged on to the balcony of Castel Gandolfo's apostolic palace to a roar from the people who had been waiting for him for hours.

"Dear friends," he began, to huge cries and applause.

"You know this day is different for me than the preceding ones: I am no longer the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, or I will be until 8 o'clock this evening and then no more, " he said.

"I am simply a pilgrim beginning the last leg of his pilgrimage on this Earth.

But I would still. . . with my heart, with my love, with my prayers, with my reflection, and with all my inner strength, like to work for the common good and the good of the church and of humanity.

I feel very supported by your sympathy.

Let us go forward with the Lord for the good of the church and the world. "

His last public words as pope were, quite simply: "Thank you, and goodnight.

Thank you to all of you. "

The message was brief, barely two minutes long, but it was enough for those assembled.

in his last official engagement in the Vatican, Benedict had unexpectedly addressed 144 cardinals of the church in the Clementine Hall of the apostolic palace.

Sitting on a throne in a crimson velvet cape, he gave a clear message to them; and to the wider world; that they should unite behind his successor.

"Among you, " he said, looking up from his prepared notes, "is the future pope, to whom I promise my unconditional reverence and obedience. "

Those worrying about divided loyalties in the future Vatican of "two popes", ran the subtext, should stop.

However there remain doubts.

Benedict XVI continues to wear white; traditionally the colour of popes; and retains the style of His Holiness Benedict XVI.

After two months spent in the papal villas at Castel Gandolfo, he returned to the Vatican and moved into a former convent that has been restored just for him.

He insisted he was "withdrawing into prayer" and may remain "hidden from the world".

For the cardinals amassed in the palace, who lined up, one by one, to share a personal moment with Benedict and to kiss his fisherman's ring, there was another clear line of thought in the valedictory speech.

"May the college of cardinals work like an orchestra, " said the outgoing pontiff, pointedly, "where diversity; an expression of the universal church; always works towards a higher and harmonious agreement. "

While the Vatican insisted that Benedict chose to leave purely for reasons of advancing age and declining strength, many observers have believed that the frictions and infighting within the church, in particular among the Roman curia, played their part in his longing to retire.

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