Grazie Benedetto!!

28^th Feb, 2013: The world witnessed something it hasn’t witnessed in more than six centuries – resignation of a Pope. A couple of weeks ago, I was in office, when I first saw the news flash showing the then Pope Benedict XVI expressing his desire to resign. Like most of the world, I wasn’t even sure then that a Pope could resign! I was slightly surprised, but it didn’t have a major impact on me. But on 28^th Feb, as I saw him leave the Vatican, fly out to Castel Gandolfo, giving his last public address as the 265^th Pope, I felt a deep sense of loss, a slight sorrow and great respect for the then Pope Benedict XVI.

In the almost eight years that he was the Pope, he inspired many across the globe, including me. I thought of sharing three of his quotes which touched me the most.

“Dear young people, the happiness you are seeking, the happiness you have a right to enjoy has a name and a face: it is Jesus of Nazareth, hidden in the Eucharist.” – 18^th August 2005, World Youth Day, Cologne.

“Happiness is something we all want, but one of the great tragedies in this world is that so many people never find it, because they look for it in the wrong places. The key to it is very simple – true happiness is to be found in God. We need to have the courage to place our deepest hopes in God alone, not in money, in a career, in worldly success, or in our relationships with others, but in God. Only he can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts.” – 17^th September 2010, London

“May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives" – 28^th February 2013, last tweet of Pope Benedict XVI. 

Thank you for your love and sacrifice and for your service to the Church, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

As the seat lies vacant (Sede vacante), lets pray for the next Pope who will carry on the tradition that Christ himself established when He made Peter, the rock on which He would build the Church, the first Pope.

Jesus said, "And now I say to you: You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church; and never will the power of death overcome it."  - Matthew 16:18.

God Bless!