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Some 100,000 people packed St. Peter's Square to hear the pope's last blessing. They interrupted him several times with applause and cheers. Benedict has one more scheduled public event: a general audience in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday.
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Pope Benedict XVI asked those gathered in St. Peter's Square to continue praying for him and the next pope. He steps down as pope Feb. 28.
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Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation this week. He gave the announcement in Latin, but who still understands the language? Apparently there are more than 50,000 people in Finland who do. Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon speaks with Finnish radio broadcaster Tuomo Pekkanen about his Latin radio show.
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Benedict made his first public appearance since he announced his resignation. The pope also delivered what is likely to be his final mass.
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Of the 117 cardinals who will choose the next pope, slightly more than half are from Europe. There are names being floated from elsewhere, but conventional wisdom is that the cardinals will go the conventional route.
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One theologian thinks that Pope Benedict XVI's resignation affirms the power of the papacy lies with the office, not the man.
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Catholics in the U.S. had varying reactions to Pope Benedict's surprise resignation on Monday.
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Pope Benedict XVI, who announced his resignation Monday at age 85, was a deeply conservative pontiff who sought to strengthen the church's core beliefs. But he also faced a number of difficult issues in a rapidly changing world.
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The Pope gets credit for strengthening the core values of the Catholic Church but also for some prominent gaffes and his poor handling of the sexual abuse scandal.
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