This evening at 8.00p.m. Pope Benedict formally relinquishes his ministry at the head of the Church.

It is a sweet sour moment for the church. It is a time charged with a lot of emotion. It is also a strong moment of love, hope and faith. More than anything else it is intrinsically and fully a church-moment.

In its two thousand years this is the ninth time that a pope resigned the Petrine ministry. The last time the Church lived a similar moment was six hundred years ago. Gregory XII, (whose birth name was Angelo Correr) served as the bishop of Rome from 1406 to 1415. He resigned to resolve a dispute over who should lead the Catholic Church in The Western Schism times and died two years after leaving his post. Gregory’s and Benedict’s resignation are so different but in a certain sense are so similar.

The resignation of Benedict is not happening during some particularly turbulent period for the Church as was the case of Gregory. But both of them, albeit for different reasons, resigned because of their great love for the Church. There came a moment in their lives when they clearly saw that they could serve the Church better if they relinquish their ministry. This is a decision which both took in the innermost and holiest of sanctuaries, that is their conscience, the place where the individual faces His God.

Tens of thousands of Catholics gave him an extremely emotional send-off last Wednesday which was his last public audience. He again explained his decision to resign:

“In these last months I have felt that my strength had diminished and I asked God earnestly in prayer to enlighten me with His light to make me make the right decision, not for my own good, but for the good of the Church. I have taken this step in full awareness of its seriousness and also its newness, but with a profound peace of mind. Loving the Church also means having the courage to make difficult, agonized choices, always keeping in mind the good of the Church, not of oneself.”

Moreover, his resignation does not in any way imply or mean that he is abandoning the Church. During the same speech Benedict showed that he is totally of and for the Church.  “Whoever assumes the Petrine ministry no longer has any privacy. He belongs always and entirely to everyone, to the whole Church. His life, so to speak, is totally deprived of its private dimension.” His total belonging to the Church will not change after his resignation. He said, “I am not returning to private life, to a life of trips, meetings, receptions, conferences, etc. I am not abandoning the Cross.” He said that he would remain entirely devoted to the Church, "in the service of prayer.”

His parting speech last Wednesday was one of his most beautiful. The same can be said of his speech to the Cardinals this morning.

The person who was billed as the latter day inquisitor ferreting out any dissenting opinion once more showed himself to be a man acknowledging the beauty of diversity. He said “that the College of Cardinals is like an orchestra, where diversity, an expression of the universal Church, always contributes to a superior harmony of concord.”

Benedict quoted the words of Romano Guardini; thus doing he exposed, once more, a dynamic ecclesiology.

"The Church is not an institution devised and built at table, but a living reality. She lives along the course of time by transforming Herself, like any living being, yet Her nature remains the same. At Her heart is Christ."

Today Pope Emeritus Benedict showed that his chosen name as Pope has come full circle. He chose the name of a monk and he is now choosing the life of a monk - cloistered in contemplation.

He leaves us with a glowingly optimistic statement, once more taken from his speech last Wednesday:

“In our hearts, in the heart of each one of you, may there always be the joyous certainty that the Lord is beside us, that He does not abandon us, that He is near and embraces us with His love. Thank you.”