the day the pope resigned

My mom and I was watching news channel when i heard a sad breaking news from the Vatican,  Pope Benedict XVI will resign! we were shocked of course. who would ever thought that the pope can really resign? I turn on the computer to verify the sad news and it is real. 

the following clippings are what yahoo said about the said resignation.

Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation at the Vatican on February 11, 2013. Only a few advisers knew of the pope's plan beforehand and many leaders of the Vatican hierarchy were caught off guard, with Cardinal Angelo Sodano saying the announcement came "like a lightning bolt in a clear blue sky"

A flash of lighting is seen over St.Peter's Basilica during a rainstorm at Vatican in this picture provided by Ansa on February 11, 2013. Pope Benedict stunned the Roman Catholic Church on Monday when he announced he would stand down, the first pope to do so in 700 years, saying he no longer had the mental and physical strength to carry on. 

here is Pope Benedict XVI profile. i never know this and would have known this if it werent for yahoo or if  he wasnt resigning after all. Unlike Pope John Paul II i never had the chance of knowing Pope Benedict. All i know is that he is the new pope, he writes well and he will be called holly father. 8 years ago when Pope John Paul died i used to watch news about the vatican waiting for them to announce the new pope. days had passed until the conclave proclaim a new papal. and now he is resigning. i only watched him on TV during easter and christmas and new years mass and when he proclaim pedro calungsod as the second filipino saint. that's all pope benedict memories i have. 

a closer look of that lightning goes like this. i dont know what is the connection or how am i going to interpret that. or was it a co incidence because of the bad weather that strike vatican or whatever.

Priests in St Peter's Square at the Vatican after it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI will resign on February 11, 2013. i guess they too were shocked!

Pope Benedict XVI's apartments are lit up the evening after he resigned on February 11, 2013. The world's top political and religious leaders expressed shock and regret at Pope Benedict XVI's resignation, but declared respect for his tenure and leadership of 1.1 billion Catholics

Some of the faithful carry a cross on the steps of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican after it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI will resign on February 11, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI on February 11, 2013 announced he will resign on February 28, a Vatican spokesman told AFP, which will make him the first pope to do so in centuries.

i wish the pope will continue to have a good health and stay happy and for us catholic to keep the faith. god bless you pope benedict!