Pope Benedict XVI's tenure as leader of the world's Catholics is drawing to a close. 
 
 The 85-year-old stands down as Pontiff after nearly eight years and at a time when the Church is mired in controversy. 
 
 This morning, more than 100 cardinals said their farewells to the Pope at a gathering in the Clementine Hall in the Apostolic Palace. 
 
 In an unexpected speech, he promised "unconditional reverence and obedience" to his successor during the gathering and urged his cardinals to work in unity as they select the next pope. 
 
 The Pope waves from his 'popemobile' at the end of his last weekly audience 
 
 Just before 4pm UK time, Benedict will leave his apartments for the last time, give his thanks to the senior staff who have been by his side during his papacy, and then make his way to the Vatican helipad. 
 
 From there he will fly to Castel Gandolfo - the Pope's retreat on the outskirts of Rome. 
 
 Then, at around 4.30pm, he will make his last brief appearance on a balcony in front of an expected crowd of around 7,000 before withdrawing from public life for good. 
 
 At 7pm the doors of the villa will close and the Swiss Guard will stand aside marking the end of Benedict's papacy. 
 
 From then on he will be known as Emeritus Pope and devote his days to prayer and meditation. 
 
 Once renovations are complete, Benedict will move to a monastery in the grounds of the Vatican. 
 
 He will still wear a white cassock normally reserved only for pontiffs, but without a doubled shoulder cape. 
 
 Play video "Benedict Heads For Quiet Retirement" Video: Benedict Heads For Quiet Retirement 
 
 Spokesman Frederico Lombardi said he has chosen to swap his trademark red shoes for a brown pair given to him by artisans in Mexico during a trip last year. 
 
 Edward Pentin, from the Catholic Herald, said Benedict will live a monk's life and not interfere in the work of his successor. 
 
 The next pope will be chosen by secret ballot during the conclave of eligible cardinals who will vote in the Sistine Chapel. 
 
 Pope Benedict XVI's departure from the Vatican sets in motion a timetable of centuries-old traditions in what is an unprecedented resignation in modern Catholic history. 
 
 After 7pm on Thursday, the Catholic Church enters a period known as "Sede Vacante" (vacant See) during which a senior cardinal takes over interim powers until a new pope is elected. 
 
 1 / 17 Gallery: Pope's Final General Audience Pope Benedict XVI officially retired on Thursday after eight years as leader of the Catholic Church. 
 
 That cardinal, referred to as the camerlengo or chamberlain, will be Italy's Tarcisio Bertone. 
 
 The camerlengo has traditionally had the role of officially certifying the death of a pope - once carried out by tapping the pontiff's forehead three times with a special silver hammer and calling out his birth name. 
 
 He is also charged with destroying the Fisherman's Ring - a gold signet ring specially cast for each new pope - which symbolises the end of a papacy. 
 
 From Monday, cardinals from around the world will hold a series of meetings known as general congregations. 
 
 The meetings are aimed at identifying priorities for the Roman Catholic Church for the future, but are also a good way of vetting possible candidates for next pope. 
 
 1 / 17 Gallery: New Pope: The Leading Candidates Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the 76-year-old is Archbishop of Buenos Aires, was chosen as Pope after just two days. He reportedly got the second most votes in the 2005 papal election. 
 
 The cardinals then meet in a secret conclave to choose the next pope under a system adapted in the 13th century. 
 
 All conclaves have been held in the Sistine Chapel and the cardinals are sworn to absolute secrecy under pain of ex-communication during voting. 
 
 Two ballots are held in the morning, and two in the afternoon, until one candidate wins two-thirds of the votes. 
 
 At the end of each session, the ballots are burned in a stove by the chapel, releasing smoke above the Apostolic Palace. The smoke is black after each unsuccessful ballot, white once the vote succeeds. ||||| Pope Benedict XVI, his dress soon to be limited to a simple white robe, has worn a ceremonial red cape for his final meeting with the College of Cardinals. 
 
 The short cape with ermine trim, known as a mozzetta, is worn for special occasions. And special this occasion was, coming just hours before Benedict becomes the first pope in 600 years to resign. 
 
 He looked out at the cardinals and said: "Among you is the future pope." And he promised his "unconditional reverence and obedience." 
 
 _ Victor L. Simpson 
 
 ___ 
 
 "Pope Live" follows the events of the final day of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy as seen by journalists from The Associated Press around the world. It will be updated throughout the day with breaking news and other items of interest. Follow AP reporters on Twitter where available. ||||| 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. 
 
 He told the crowd, many of whom were crying, that he would soon become “simply be a pilgrim who is starting the last phase of his pilgrimage on this earth”. 
 
 He then turned and went inside the villa, never to be seen again as pope. 
 
 “I wanted to see him for the last time. I hope his successor follows in his footsteps. I feel very moved to be here,” said Giuseppe Ercolino, a 19-year-old student from a nearby town. 
 
 In an emotional farewell to cardinals on Thursday morning in the Vatican’s frescoed Sala Clementina, Benedict appeared to send a strong message to the top echelons of the Church as well as the faithful to unite behind his successor, whoever he is. 
 
 “I will continue to be close to you in prayer, especially in the next few days, so that you are fully accepting of the action of the Holy Spirit in the election of the new pope,” he said. “May the Lord show you what he wants. Among you there is the future pope, to whom I today declare my unconditional reverence and obedience.” 
 
 The pledge, made ahead of the closed-doors conclave where cardinals will elect his successor, was significant because for the first time in history, there will be a reigning pope and a former pope living side by side in the Vatican. 
 
 Some Church scholars worry that if the next pope undoes some of Benedict’s policies while his predecessor is still alive, Benedict could act as a lightning rod for conservatives and polarize the 1.2 billion-member Church. 
 
 Before boarding the helicopter, Pope Benedict said goodbye to monsignors, nuns, Vatican staff and Swiss guards in the San Damaso courtyard of the Holy See’s apostolic palace. Many of his staff had tears in their eyes as the helicopter left. 
 
 Benedict will spend the first few months of his retirement in the papal summer residence, a complex of villas boasting lush gardens, a farm and stunning views over Lake Albano in the volcanic crater below the town. 
 
 Benedict will stay until April when renovations are completed on a convent in the Vatican that will be his new home. 
 
 Pope Benedict XVI speaks to the faithful for the last time from the balcony of his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo February 28, 2013. Pope Benedict left the Vatican on Thursday after 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. REUTERS/ Tony Gentile ( ITALY - Tags: RELIGION) 
 
 PAPAL PROBLEMS 
 
 With the election of the next pope taking place in the wake of sexual abuse scandals, leaks of his private papers by his butler, falling membership and demands for a greater role for women, many in the Church believe it would benefit from a fresh face from a non-European country. 
 
 A number of cardinals from the developing world, including Ghanaian Peter Turkson and Antonio Tagle of the Philippines are two names often mentioned as leading candidates from the developing world who listen more. 
 
 “At the past two conclaves, the cardinals elected the smartest man in the room. Now, it may be time to choose a man who will listen to all the other smart people in the Church,” said Father Tom Resse, a historian and senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. 
 
 Benedict, wearing the white papal cassock and red cape he will shed after his resignation becomes official, urged the Church to strive to be “deeply united”. 
 
 A lover of classical music, he compared the Church hierarchy to an orchestra with many instruments which should always seek to be harmonious. 
 
 “In these past eight years we have lived, with faith, beautiful moments of radiant light in the path of the Church as well as moments when some clouds darkened the sky,” he said, adding that he had “tried to serve Christ and his Church with deep and total love”. 
 
 NEW POPE BEFORE EASTER 
 
 Once the chair of St Peter is vacant, cardinals who have assembled from around the world will begin planning the conclave that will elect his successor. 
 
 One of the first questions facing these “princes of the Church” is when the 115 cardinal electors should enter the Sistine Chapel for the voting. They will hold a first meeting on Friday but a decision may not come until next week. 
 
 The Vatican seems to be aiming for an election by mid-March so the new pope can be installed in office before Palm Sunday on March 24 and lead the Holy Week services that culminate in Easter on the following Sunday. 
 
 Slideshow (6 Images) 
 
 In the meantime, the cardinals will hold daily consultations at the Vatican at which they discuss issues facing the Church, get to know each other better and size up potential leaders for the 2,000-year-old Church. 
 
 There are no official candidates, no open campaigning and no clear front runner for the job. Cardinals tipped as favorites by Vatican-watchers include Turkson, Tagle, Brazil’s Odilo Scherer, Canadian Marc Ouellet, Italy’s Angelo Scola and Timothy Dolan of the United States. 
 
 Benedict, a bookish man who did not seek the papacy and did not enjoy being in the global spotlight, proved an energetic teacher of Catholic doctrine but a poor manager of the Curia, the Vatican bureaucracy that became mired in scandal. 
 
 He leaves his successor a top secret report on rivalries and scandals within the Curia, prompted by leaks of internal files last year that documented the problems hidden behind the Vatican’s thick walls and the Church’s traditional secrecy. ||||| Pope's first refuge: A sumptuous lakeside villa 
 
 CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy — Once he steps down on Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI will begin his retirement in the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, a sumptuous villa outside Rome with ornamental gardens, breathtaking views and its own farm. 
 
 Benedict will spend around two months in the palace, which is perched high on a rocky outcrop above Italy's Lake Albano, before withdrawing to a monastery within the grounds of the Vatican. 
 
 One wing of the palace looks out onto the main square of Castel Gandolfo, a mediaeval town listed among Italy's most beautiful, and it is from a balcony there that Benedict will wave goodbye just before resigning on Thursday at 1900 GMT and retreating to a life of prayer out of the public eye. 
 
 Townspeople and those who have worked in the villa and grown to know Benedict over his eight-year papacy will gather holding torches and rosary beads in the square to pray for him. 
 
 The villa and gardens, owned by the Holy See since 1596, expanded over the centuries to include other properties and now sprawl over 55 hectares (135 acres). 
 
 Inside the grounds, there are views down to the lake or glimpses of the sea beyond gardens decorated with sculptures, and orchards of apricot, peach and olive trees, and greenhouses of ornamental flowers. 
 
 The residence has long been a favourite with popes hoping to escape the infernal heat of a Roman summer and, at 426 metres above sea level, the palace is a cool oasis. 
 
 "The pope, who usually visits at Easter, has brought his stay forward by a month," said Saverio Petrillo, director of the Pontifical Villas. 
 
 "The situation is routine in terms of logistics, but exceptional considering the circumstances," he said. 
 
 Benedict's resignation "took us by surprise, it was like a lightning bolt out of the blue," said the white-haired Petrillo, who said he understood the pope's decision to give up the papacy. 
 
 "Here the pope will find a family atmosphere. There are no great works of art, no huge rooms," he said as he showed off reception rooms decorated with simple wooden crosses, bibles on tables and photographs of Benedict smiling as he walks through the palace grounds. 
 
 Cypresses and sculptured hedges line secluded paths in the gardens, but Benedict does not often stroll among the blooming flowerbeds or fountains, Petrillo said. 
 
 "He is a reserved man of study who is not a huge fan of the great outdoors." 
 
 Benedict will be accompanied by two private secretaries and four lay women and is expected to spend most of his time in his private apartment, which has a view of the sea. 
 
 The pontiff said in 2011 that at Castel Gandolfo, "I find everything: a mountain, a lake, I even see the sea," a phrase immortalised in a plaque on the town hall opposite the palace. 
 
 It was pope Urban VIII who first decided in 1626 to establish the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, which is 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Rome and is also home to the large telescope of the Vatican's Observatory. 
 
 Pope Alexander VII called in Baroque architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini to develop a new wing in 1659. 
 
 Centuries later, after several other villas had been incorporated into the land, Pope Pius XI opened a farm, where he kept animals which had been given to him as gifts -- including wild boar and gazelles. 
 
 It now houses cows, free-range hens, cockerels and pontifical bees. 
 
 Freshly laid eggs, milk, vegetables, fruit, honey and fat rounds of caciotta cheese from the farm are eaten by the pope at breakfast or end up in the kitchen of the papal household back in the Vatican, or on the shelves of the tiny state's supermarket. 
 
 Last year the environmentally-conscious Benedict was also given vines to plant at the villa to make a locally-produced wine for his dinner table, with no carbon footprint. 
 
 Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
– It's Pope Benedict XVI's last day on the job, but don't expect much fanfare: There won't be a major ceremony or declaration, Reuters reports. Clad in a red ceremonial cape called a mozzetta, the AP notes that he met with some 100 cardinals at the Apostolic Palace this morning to say goodbye, telling them, "Among you is the future pope ... to whom I today declare my unconditional reverence and obedience." After a short helicopter ride, Benedict will hold his final public appearance from a balcony at the papal summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, just south of Rome; about 7,000 are expected to be there, Sky News reports, contrasting with yesterday's 150,000. Benedict officially retires at 2pm Eastern time. At that time—8pm locally—the Swiss Guards outside the residence will prepare to head back to Rome. Benedict himself will stay for two months before moving to a renovated convent at the Vatican. The palace at Castel Gandolfo overlooks a lake and the main square of the medieval town, considered one of the most beautiful in Italy, AFP notes. "Here the pope will find a family atmosphere. There are no great works of art, no huge rooms," says an official. At Castel Gandolfo, the pope said in 2011, "I find everything: a mountain, a lake, I even see the sea." The words now appear on a town hall plaque.