World reacts to Pope's resignation
- 1/12
Vatican spokesman Father Lombardi talks to reporters during a news conference at the Vatican
Reuters - 2/12
Adelina Hidalgo holds a photograph of Pope Benedict as she kneels inside the Metropolitan Cathedral in San Salvador
REUTERS - 3/12
A policeman hold the Osservatore Romano newspaper in Rome
Reuters - 4/12
Workers remove a painting of Pope Benedict XVI from the press conference room after the head of Spain's Catholic Church and President of the Bishops' Conference Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela addressed a news conference in Madrid
REUTERS - 5/12
A woman, dressed as a cardinal and wearing a hog mask, holds a banner while yelling slogans against the Catholic clergy outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City
REUTERS - 6/12
US Vice President Joe Biden makes a remark on the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI at the conclusion of a a roundtable discussion on gun control at Girard College in Philadelphia
REUTERS - 7/12
A woman looks at religious articles at a shop in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City
REUTERS - 8/12
A man walks inside the Cathedral of St. Paul of Abidjan
Reuters - 9/12
A reveller dressed like the Pope holds a sign while joking with other revellers from the Sergeant Pepper's Carnival block in Rio de Janeiro
REUTERS - 10/12
A woman prays during a mass at a catholic church in Seoul
REUTERS - 11/12
A Catholic devotee prays at the St Mary's Cathedral in central Sydney
REUTERS - 12/12
Cristo, religious leader who claims to be Jesus Christ reincarnated, gestures on stage in Brasilia
REUTERS
Pope Benedict left the Catholic world in shock after becoming the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to resign his office, saying that failing strength had left him unable to lead the church through a period of relentless change and turmoil.