Catholics mark a year since Pope Benedict XVI resignation
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/11/catholics-mark-a-year-since-pope-benedict-xvi-resignation/
Catholics mark a year since Pope Benedict XVI resignation
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, February 11, 2014 10:36 EST
The Catholic Church on Tuesday marked one year since Benedict XVI became the first pope since the Middle Ages to resign, with Vatican insiders defending his troubled eight-year papacy.
Today I ask you to join me in prayer for His Holiness Benedict XVI, a man of great courage and humility, his successor, Pope Francis, said in a message on Twitter.
The Vaticans spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, joined in the tributes to Benedict, saying that the February 11, 2013 resignation had been a great act of government that affected the life of the Church.
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His pontificate, however, was an unpopular one and was marked by scandals in the Church including a wave of revelations of child sex abuse by priests, communication gaffes and a series of damaging leaks that revealed cloak-and-dagger politics in the Vatican.