The Pontificate of Benedict XVI: portrait of a papacy

(Vatican Radio ) In a surprise announcement Benedict XVI on Monday said he plans to resign from the papal office on February 28th at 8 pm. From then on one can speak about there being a so called " sede vacante". After this date the Pope himself will reside at his residence at Castelgandolfo until the conclave .

Five years into this pontificate historian Norman Tanner granted Veronica Scarisbrick an interview focusing on this lapse of time. In the interview Professor Tanner describes the Pope as: "... a man of prayer , a man of deep Christian life, a man who is open to every dimension of human existence, the intellectual , the personal , the humorous too".


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