• Buildup to selecting his successor begins
• Cardinals begin arriving in Rome for conclave
Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, who steps down at 8pm (7pm GMT) today, becoming the first pontiff to resign in 600 years.
It leaves the world’s 1.2bn Roman Catholics leaderless - albeit not for very long.
All roads currently lead to Rome for the 115 Cardinals expected to take part in voting on the next Pope.
As well as covering the build-up to that, today we'll be monitoring the final engagements of Benedict XVI as head of the Roman Catholic church before he departs for the hilltop town of Castel Gandolfo, where he is expected to spend the next two months.
On twitter, you can follow me on @BenQuinn75, as well as Lizzy Davies (@lizzy_davies) and John Hooper (@john_hooper) in Rome. Sam Jones (@swajones) here in London is also covering developments.
Pope Benedict XVI has pledged his "unconditional reverence and obedience" to whoever succeeds him as head of the Roman Catholic church as he prepares to stand down.
Lizzy Davies has filed from Rome on what appears to be an attempt to defuse growing concerns that his abdication – the first in almost 600 years – would sow further division among the church.
Towards the end of a speech in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, he told assembled cardinals in the Vatican they should be unified in their future action:
Before greeting you individually, I would like to tell you that I will continue to be close to you in prayer, especially in the coming days.Among you is the future pope, to whom I promise my unconditional reverence and obedience.
Benedict's last day comes after one cardinal made several critical comments about Benedict and his decision to stand down.
George Pell, an Australian cardinal and archbishop of Sydney whose biography you can read here, told the Seven Network on Wednesday that the move might set a worrying precedent.
People who, for example, might disagree with a future pope will mount a campaign to get him to resign.
Pell went on to describe the outgoing pontiff as a "brilliant teacher" but added:
Government wasn't his strongest point. He's got to know his theology, but I think I prefer somebody who can lead the church and pull it together a bit.
Pell, who is Archbishop of Sydney is meanwhile described by The Australian as a 20-1 favourite to take over Benedict's job. That newspaper's foreign editor, Greg Sheridan, writes in an opinion piecethat while Pell is an outsider he still has a realistic chance:
Pell is a controversial cardinal. He doesn't seek controversy, but he's not scared of it. Too many European bishops seem terrified of the disapproval of their societies. Pell, despite a local elite culture deeply hostile to orthodox Catholicism, has not only won the loyalty of Catholics but re-established the right of the Catholic position to be heard in the public square.
Collected from :http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/28/pope-benedict-xvi-s-last-day-in-office-live-updates
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