Feb. 28 Photo Brief: Pope Benedict bids an emotional farewell, pollution in Beijing, 40th Show of the Best, the sequester
Pope Benedict bids an emotional farewell, pollution in Beijing, 40th Show of the Best, the sequester in the United States and more in today’s daily brief.
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- Pope Benedict XVI waves as he appears for the last time at the balcony of his summer residence in Castelgandolfo, south of Rome, February 28, 2013. (Max Rossi/Reuters)
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- A woman reacts near a giant screen showing the departure of Pope Benedict XVI from the Vatican City, February 28, 2013. Pope Benedict slips quietly from the world stage on Thursday after a private last goodbye to his cardinals and a short flight to a country palace to enter the final phase of his life “hidden from the world”. (Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)
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- Pope Benedict XVI addresses during the last meeting with the Cardinals at the Vatican, February 28, 2013. (Osservatore Romano/Reuters)
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- Nuns wave as the helicopter carrying Pope Benedict XVI passes by St Peter’s Square on February 28, 2013 in Vatican City, Italy. Pope Benedict XVI has been the leader of the Catholic Church for eight years and is the first Pope to retire since 1415. He will stay at the Papal Summer residence of Castel Gandolfo until renovations are complete at a monastery in the grounds of the Vatican and will be known as Roman pontiff emeritus or pope emeritus. (Carsten Koall/Getty Images)
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- A nun holds a cruzifix in her hands as she follows the livestreaming online coverage of Pope Benedict XVI’s arrival in Castel Gandolfo on a screen in St Peter’s Square on February 28, 2013 in Vatican City, Italy. Pope Benedict XVI has been the leader of the Catholic Church for eight years and is the first Pope to retire since 1415. He will stay at the Papal Summer residence of Castel Gandolfo until renovations are complete at a monastery in the grounds of the Vatican and will be known as Roman pontiff emeritus or pope emeritus. (Carsten Koall/Getty Images)
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- A helicopter carrying Pope Benedict XVI takes off from inside the Vatican on its way to the papal summer residence at Castelgandolfo, February 28, 2013. Pope Benedict slips quietly from the world stage on Thursday after a private last goodbye to his cardinals and a short flight to a country palace to enter the final phase of his life “hidden from the world”. (Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)
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- Students hold placards reading “This Government of precariousness lacks legitimacy” (L), “We want more education” (C-top), “Youth unemployment 40 percent” (R) and “Government Out” as they protest against government’s austerity measures while Portugal’s Prime Minister attends a conference at the Law University of Lisbon on February 27, 2013. (Patricia d Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Former rebel fighters take part in a parade as they graduate as new recruits of Libya’s police force in Tripoli February 28, 2013. More than 800 former rebels, the first group of recruits to finish their training after the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, graduated on Thursday. (Ismail Zitouny/Reuters)
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- A bird is perched on barbed wire that surrounds the Jilava prison near Bucharest February 28, 2013. A visit to the prison, part of a conference on drug abuse in prisons and its relation to the rise of HIV-AIDS, was organized to meet inmates who are part of a project in which they receive therapeutic help to overcome their problems with narcotics. The conference is organized by the Council of Europe and Romania’s National Anti-drug Agency. (Bogdan Cristel/Reuters)
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- An inmate lifts up weights at the gym room at the Jilava prison near Bucharest February 28, 2013. A visit to the prison, part of a conference on drug abuse in prisons and its relation to the rise of HIV-AIDS, was organized to meet inmates who are part of a project in which they receive therapeutic help to overcome their problems with narcotics. The conference is organized by the Council of Europe and Romania’s National Anti-drug Agency. (Bogdan Cristel/Reuters)
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- A man wearing face mask stands before a wall inside the Forbidden City during heavy pollution in Beijing on February 28, 2013. Beijing residents were urged to stay indoors as pollution levels soared before a sandstorm brought further misery to China’s capital. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Soldiers of the Somali National Army (SNA) stand guard on a street during a patrol in the central Somali town of Buur-Hakba in this picture taken and released by the African Union-United Nations Information Support team on February 28, 2013. (Stuart Price/Handout via Reuters)
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- An Indian labourer segregates watermelon at the Gaddiannaram fruit market in Hyderabad on February 28, 2013. India’s government on Thursday earmarked $1.9 billion for a populist programme to combat malnutrition, a move seen as a major vote winner for the ruling Congress party in elections next year. (Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Workers from the Rio Museum of Art (MAR), or the Museu de Arte do Rio, relax during their lunch time, in Rio de Janeiro February 28, 2013. The museum will be inaugurated on Friday. (Sergio Moraes/Reuters)
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- Victoria Tribe, 1, whose father works at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, walks across a set stage as people wait for a visit from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, at the embassy in Rome February 28, 2013. (Jacquelyn Martin/Reuters)
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- White House press secretary Jay Carney looks down as he speaks to reporters about the so-called “sequester” at the White House in Washington February 28, 2013. Positions hardened on Wednesday between the U.S. President and Republican congressional leaders over the budget crisis even as they arranged to hold last-ditch talks to prevent harsh automatic spending cuts beginning this week. Looking resigned to the $85 billion in “sequestration” cuts starting on Friday, government agencies began reducing costs and spelling out to employees how furloughs will work. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
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- This handout photo provided February 28, 2013 by the White House shows US President Barack Obama(L) watching as Vice President Joe Biden swears in Treasury Secretary Jack Lew during a ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC. Lew’s family, pictured from left, are: wife Ruth Schwartz; granddaughter Eliora Lew; son Danny Lew; daughter Shoshana Lew; daughter-in-law Zahava Lew; and grandson Moshe Lew. (Pete Souza/White House)
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- South Koreans wearing traditional costumes carry torches in their hands to celebrate the March 1 Independence Movement Anniversary in Cheonan, 90 kms south of Seoul, on February 28, 2013. South Koreans celebrate the public holiday of remembrance to mark the 1919 civilian uprising against Japanese colonial rule from 1910-1945. (Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Palestinians stand next to Devil Rays laid on a beach in Gaza City February 28, 2013. Gaza fishermen have caught more than 200 Devil Rays over the past two days, a rare haul that was proudly displayed on the beach before being carried off to market on donkey carts. (Ahmed Zakot/Reuters)
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- An eagle owl holds a chick at the Schwarze Berge wildlife park in Hamburg, northern Germany, on February 28, 2013. All animals of the park were counted, measured and weighed during an annual inventory. (Sven Hoppe/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Cows are made up for a photocall at the “40th Show of the Best” agricultural exhibition on February 28, 2013 in Verden, western Germany. During the annual show, cows from the region compete for the “Miss” title of the exhibition’s beauty contest. (Carmen Jaspersen/AFP/Gety Images)
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- A tree decorated with colorful plastic Easter eggs is seen on February 28, 2013 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/AFP/Getty Images)
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- The Eiffel tower is seen on a foggy night in Paris on February 28, 2013. The tower was completed in 1889 and it’s current total height is 324 meters. (Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A Muslim man stands on the top of the Askia mosque after the prayer on February 27, 2013 in Gao. Chad’s President Idriss Deby Itno on Wednesday urged the Malian army and West African force to speed up the deployment of troops to northern Mali to help fight Al-Qaeda-linked rebels. (Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Polythene greenhouses are floodedin the village of Monospitovo, in the southeastern tip of the Republic of Macedonia on February 27, 2013. The torrential rains which in the last three days poured down on the fertile Strumica Valley inundated fields and villages, destroying or damaging crops and households. Tens of people in the region are now sheltered, as their homes were gravely damaged. (Robert Atanasovski/AFP/Getty Images)
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- The 100th Eurofighter plane is seen behind a water shield during a ceremony to hand over the plane to the German Air Force at the EADS company Cassidian in Manching, southern Germany, on February 28, 2013. (Guenter Schiffmann/AFP/Getty Images)
Benedict’s reign ends with a promise to obey next pope
Philip Pullella | Reuters
2:25 p.m. EST, February 28, 2013
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict ended his difficult reign on Thursday pledging unconditional obedience to whoever succeeds him to guide the Roman Catholic Church at one of the most crisis-ridden periods in its 2,000-year history.
The papacy became vacant at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT/2PM ET), marking the first time in six centuries a pope has resigned instead of ruling for life.
In a symbolic gesture, the Swiss Guards who stood sentry at the papal summer residence south of Rome, where the pope flew by helicopter less than three hours earlier, quit their posts and the massive wooden doors of the hilltop residence were closed.
At the same time, the papal apartments in the Vatican were locked and will not be opened until a new pope is elected.
As he left the Vatican several hours earlier by helicopter, he sent his last Twitter message: “Thank you for your love and support. May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the center of your lives.”
Bells rang out from St Peter’s Basilica and churches all over Rome as the helicopter circled Vatican City and flew over the Colosseum and other landmarks to give the pontiff one last view of the city where he is also bishop.
“As you know, today is different to previous ones,” he told an emotional, cheering crowd holding balloons and banners after he arrived in the small town of Castel Gandolfo, where the summer residence it located.
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