Pope Benedict XVI yesterday stunned the world by announcing he was resigning as leader of the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church, citing his deteriorating physical and mental strength.
The 85-year-old pontiff, whose resignation takes effect Feb. 28, is the first pope to step down in nearly 600 years.
The shocking move set the stage for a conclave of cardinals to convene at the Vatican in the next few weeks to choose a new leader — possibly before Easter.
“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 the adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” the German-born Benedict said in Latin to a group of cardinals yesterday, invoking the first pope, St. Peter.
Benedict noted that “both strength of mind and body” are necessary to lead the Catholic Church and “proclaim the Gospel.”
But that strength in “the last few months has been deteriorating in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me,” said the arthritis-afflicted Benedict, who recently began using a cane.
“For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter.”
Monsignor Oscar Sanchez of Mexico, who was among those in the room with the pope, said the news at first confused some of the cardinals there, mainly because they don’t understand Latin.
“All the cardinals remained shocked and were looking at each other,” he said.
After he leaves office, Benedict — born Joseph Ratzinger — will live in the summer papal residence in Castel Gandolfo outside Rome.
Later, he will move into a monastery — currently being renovated — run by cloistered nuns inside the Vatican for “a period of prayer and reflection,” the Vatican said.
His retirement will take the shy Benedict out of a papal limelight that he never seemed totally comfortable with, even after nearly eight years in office, and allow him to freely enjoy the books and piano he loves.
His priest brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, will be joining him living at the monastery. He said simply, “His age is weighing on him . . . My brother wants more rest.”
The sudden resignation of the staunchly conservative theologian stands in stark contrast to the slow public decline of his much-beloved, long-tenured predecessor, John Paul II.
John Paul’s death in 2005 came after years of failing health that left that Polish pontiff fragile and mute as the church’s financial and other problems mounted.
“I think [Benedict] wants a neat handoff instead of a prolonged agony,” said Terrence Tilley, chairman of Fordham University’s theology department, who called the pope’s dramatic step a “courageous act.”
Catholic leaders and laity alike were surprised by the first resignation of a pontiff since Gregory XII quit in 1415.
But they quickly lauded Benedict for what was seen as a selfless move.
“I was shocked and startled as were you,” New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan, leader of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told reporters.
Dolan said he was praying at 6 a.m. yesterday and reading Benedict’s book “Life of Christ,” when his spokesman, Joseph Zwilling, phoned to report talk out of Rome “that Pope Benedict announced his resignation.”
“Both of us chuckled because we’ve heard rumors like that before and didn’t take them seriously, and then, about five minutes later, [Zwilling] said the Holy See has confirmed it,” Dolan said.
Dolan said that after getting over the shock, his already high “affection and admiration for Pope Benedict XVI has skyrocketed . . . because of his humility.
“I would presume his esteem for the office as the chief pastor of the church universal, that esteem is so high that in all humility, he said, ‘I can’t do it anymore, and it would be best for the church and me to step aside.’ ”
Brooklyn Diocese Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, whose jurisdiction also encompasses Queens, called Benedict’s resignation “somewhat of a surprise, but maybe not a shock.’’
“It seems like in the past six month his health was declining. He couldn’t walk as well,” DiMarzio said.
In addition to using a cane, Benedict has taken to having a motorized platform carry him 100 yards down the aisle of St. Peter’s Basilica during appearances.
His brother also said doctors had told the pope to cease making trans-Atlantic trips.
“It shows, basically, he’s a humble man. He wasn’t into having power,” DiMarzio said of the pope’s resignation.
Benedict’s tenure included a triumphant 2008 visit to New York and elsewhere in the United States, where he emotionally met with victims of molestation by priests. He told American bishops that the church “very badly handled” the clerical pedophilia scandal.
In 2009, Benedict visited Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories, where he condemned Holocaust deniers — nearly 70 years after he said he was inducted against his will into the Hitler Youth.
Last year, Benedict was embarrassed by the arrest of his own butler, who was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison in a Vatican court for stealing the pope’s personal papers and leaking them to a reporter.
The Vatican yesterday pointedly said that Benedict will not participate in the conclave that will pick his successor.
The next pope, No. 266, will be selected by a two-thirds majority, plus one, of the up to 117 the cardinals who will be under the maximum electoral age of 80 at the time of the conclave in Rome. Among them will be Dolan.
“I would expect no theological change,” said Tilley, Fordham’s theology chairman, of Benedict’s successor.
“The people who have been appointed to major positions in the church are going to continue those traditional teachings and discipline . . . They’re going to go with somebody who is not going to be much in any way radical.”
Additional reporting by Wilson Dizard