Why Did Pope Resign? Frail, Not Ill, Faced No Pressure To Resign, Vatican Insists

VATICAN: Pope Faced No Pressure To Resign
FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2005 file photo Pope Benedict XVI wipes his face during a solemn adoration of the Eucharist in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. On Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 Benedict XVI announced he would resign Feb. 28, the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years. The decision sets the stage for a conclave to elect a new pope before the end of March. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis, files)
FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2005 file photo Pope Benedict XVI wipes his face during a solemn adoration of the Eucharist in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. On Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 Benedict XVI announced he would resign Feb. 28, the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years. The decision sets the stage for a conclave to elect a new pope before the end of March. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis, files)

ROME, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict has no specific illness and his decision to resign was taken with no outside pressure, the Vatican spokesman said on Monday after the pontiff's shock announcement that he would step down at the end of this month.

Father Federico Lombardi said the 85 year-old pope's decision was not due to an illness but to a progressive decline in his strength which was normal in a man of his age.

"In the last few months he has seen a decline in vigour, both of the body and spirit," Lombardi told reporters. "It was his personal decision taken with full freedom, which deserves maximum respect," he added.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella, writing by Gavin Jones)

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