Main challenge for Benedict’s successor could be the divisions within the Vatican, rather than secularism or abuse scandals
Journalism
Pope Benedict XVI’s shock resignation breaks ‘600-year taboo’
Pope Benedict, whose eight-year rule was characterised by theological conservatism and what critics said was complicity in the cover-up of clerical sexual abuse, blames health problems
Pope Benedict XVI resignation leaves princes of the church speechless
Vatican City shocked as man seen as God’s representative on Earth announces he is giving up on job
Pope Benedict’s declining strength quells conspiracy theories
While announcement took Holy See by surprise Vatican insists that it was the 85-year-old’s own personal decision to step down
Pope Benedict XVI resigns owing to age and declining health
Pontiff, 85, who has arthritis, says he will step down on 28 February after nearly eight years as head of Catholic church
Pope’s resignation: motives still unclear
1.39pm: In Rome, John Hooper notes that the reasons for the pope’s resignation are still far from clear
Pope’s resignation: eyewitness account
12.39pm: John Hooper has been speaking to Mexican prelate Monsignor Oscar Sanchez, who witnessed the pope’s resignation
Pope Benedict’s resignation brings end to paradoxical papacy
Messages the former Joseph Ratzinger hoped to convey were all but drowned out by string of controversies
Beppe Grillo: populist who could throw Italy into turmoil at general election
Election in two weeks time could see Beppe Grillo’s Five Star movement in position to stop left or right from wielding majority
Cyprus criticised over treatment of asylum seekers
EU country is accused of ignoring supreme court decisions and keeping asylum seekers in unhealthy conditions