Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday called for a “real renewal” in the Catholic Church in the spirit of the reformist Second Vatican Council of the 1960s.The Pope was making one of his final speeches,following an announcement of his resignation at the end of February,Bangkok Post reports

The Pope Benedict’s speech at the Paul VI hall in the Vatican attracted a large gathering and many of the faithfuls were seen sobbing over the Pope’s sudden resignation .

“We must work for the realisation of the real Council and for a real renewal of the Church,” the pope told hundreds of parish priests from his Rome diocese assembled in a Vatican auditorium.

South African cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, seen as a possible successor to Pope Benedict XVI, said the Church was in a “profound crisis” and needed a new pope to implement “spiritual renewal.”

Pope Benedict XVI

The 71-year-old also predicted next month’s conclave of cardinals in the Sistine Chapel would last longer than the last one which took just two days, speaking in an interview with Italian daily La Stampa published on Thursday.

“We can come out of this profound crisis with a strong spiritual renewal like the one of St Francis who implemented a moral reform,” Napier said.

Napier said he would not rate candidates to succeed to Benedict based on where they came from but indicated that the “balance” in the Church had shifted to the southern hemisphere, where the majority of Catholics now live.

“The determining factor is he must have the wisdom and energy to confront the challenges that await the Church in every corner of the globe,” he said,Asia One News reports
By UP