The Pope has given his last general audience before stepping down as Pontiff.

The Pope stunned the Catholic Church earlier this month when he announced he no longer had the mental or physical strength to carry on in the role.

He will officially stand aside on Thursday evening, the first pope to do so in 600 years.

Pope Benedict XVI greeted pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square for the final time before retiring, and waved to tens of thousands of people who have gathered to bid him farewell.

Benedict was driven around the square in an open-sided vehicle, surrounded by bodyguards. At one point he stopped to kiss a baby handed up to him by his secretary.

The crowd fell silent as he started to speak.

He began by saying he will keep the faithful in his prayers and he has “great trust” in the future of the church.

He said his Papacy had faced joy, but also had undergone ‘difficult moments’.

Drawing on a Biblical analogy, he said: “The Lord gave us days of sun and of light breeze, days in which the fishing was good. There were also moments when there were stormy waters and headwinds.”

But, he said, God would not let the church sink.

He said he had resigned not for his own good, but for the good of the Church.

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday said he was aware of the “gravity and novelty” of his decision to resign and would “accompany” the Church in prayer even after his resignation the following day.

“I took this step in full awareness of its gravity and novelty but with profound serenity of spirit,” he said.

Pope Benedict told the 50,000-strong crowd he was not “coming down from the Cross”, but would remain in the service of the Church through prayer.

He asked the faithful to pray for the cardinals as they faced a weighty task choosing his successor and for whoever they chose.

After he had finished speaking the crowd gave a rousing round of applause that lasted nearly a minute.

He went on to give his address in other languages.

Tens of thousands of people, some toting banners saying “Thank you!” had earlier began filling St. Peter’s Square in preparation for his appearance.

Spontaneous chants of “Benedetto” erupted every so often and the mood – even hours before Benedict was to arrive – was one of excitement.

Jan Marie, a 53-year-old Roman, said: “It’s difficult – the emotion is so big. We came to support the pope’s decision, and feel the air of the church.”

“I came to thank him for the testimony that he has given the church,” said Maria Cristina Chiarini, a 52-year-old homemaker who traveled by train early Wednesday from Lugo, near Ravenna, with some 60 members of her parish.

“There’s nostalgia, human nostalgia, but also comfort, because as a Christian we have hope. The Lord won’t leave us without a guide.”

Many of the cardinals who will choosee the next Pope were among those waiting to hear Benedict XVI speak.

The Pope will leave the Vatican and fly by helicopter to the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, until renovations have been completed on a monastery inside the Vatican walls.

The Pope will live out the rest of his days in the new monastery in prayer and meditation.

At precisely 8pm (Rome time) the villa gates at Castel Gandolfo will close and the Swiss Guard will withdraw – a symbol that Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy is over.

Benedict will then be known as Emeritus Pope and wear a simple white cassock and brown shoes rather than his trademark red loafers.

After the general audience today, the Pope will meet a select group of heads of state and make final preparations for his departure.

On Thursday morning, he will bid farewell to his cardinals who will begin a series of meetings to determine his successor.

The date for the conclave – when eligible cardinals vote in secret in the Sistine Chapel – has yet to be announced.

Pope Benedict XVI. Last Speech Video

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