Friday, February 28 marks the last day of service for Pope Benedict XVI - the head of the universal Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI was born as Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger and he is the Catholic Church's 265th pope.
The role of the Pope, as successor to St. Peter, is to lead the faithful on Earth and to pass on the Faith to the Church. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said to Peter, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.” Thus, it was Christ’s intent to pass on the authority to guide the Church in His name to Peter and the apostles. Since then, it has been passed down through the centuries. This is called “apostolic succession.”
Much will be made in the news in the next few weeks as to who will be elected as the next pope. The papal conclave (a meeting of the College of Cardinals) will begin on the weekend of March 9/10 and thus we there could be a new pope as early as March 11.
In the meantime, here a great blog for young people called "3 Things You Should Know About Pope Benedict XVI" from my friends at lifeteen.com
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