We shall also pray for the church as she prepares to choose the next successor of St Peter.

It's not just one person who is needed to guide the Church, but the entire ministry, the service of the successor of St Peter.

We are sad that he will be resigning but grateful for his eight years of selfless leadership as successor of St Peter.

Sylvester was also, says Innocent, the vicar of Christ and successor of St Peter.

In the short run, the forthcoming elections of the new successor of St Peter will attract a huge number of pilgrims from all over the world.

The Catholic Church in our countries has always had a profound and loving loyalty to the Holy Father, the Successor of St Peter.

We should remember Pope Benedict communicated the revelation of God in a characteristic way as a true successor of St Peter.

"The Church in Germany will continue to be a blessing for the entire Catholic world if she remains faithfully united with the successor of St Peter," he said, referring to himself.

In whatever tongue we use, "church" describes the called and assembled ones, the baptised believers who are the Body of Christ, the priestly people of God gathered in unity around the Successor of St Peter.

But the noise that greeted the billowing smoke was nothing compared to the sound that met Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires when he appeared on the balcony as the 266th successor of St Peter.

In his final appearance as head of the Roman Catholic church, the 264th successor of St Peter greeted crowds of locals and pilgrims in this small hilltop town where, for 400 years, popes have been coming to spend their summers.

In a very real way it involves all Catholics of the Archdiocese, for it is a significant expression of the Communion of faith and love of the world wide Church guaranteed by our unity with the Successor of St Peter.

The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, he was a Pope of firsts, the first Jesuit to become the successor of St Peter, the first South American to lead the church and the first non-European for more than 1,000 years.

The Mass began inside St Peter's Basilica, where the Pope prayed with Orthodox leaders.The ancient ritual included receiving the fisherman's ring, symbolising his ministry as the 265th successor of St Peter, and the pallium, a white stole dating back to the 4th century.

In an announcement read to cardinals in Latin, the universal language of the Church, the 85-year-old said: "Well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of St Peter ...

The Roman Catholic Church is the religious organisation of all those who acknowledge the Bishop of Rome (Pope) as head of the Christian Church and lawful successor of St Peter the Apostle of Jesus appointed to be head of the Church.

The pope was thus successor of St Peter, between God and man, inferior to God but above man, St Peter's vicar, but also, as Innocent now claims, "vicar of Christ", as St Peter had been, rather than vicar of St Peter.

Although the Pope is seen as the successor of St Peter, none have chosen Peter for their Papal name, partly to avoid comparisons to the founder the Roman Catholic Church and partly because of an ancient prophecy that a new Pope called Peter will precede the end of the world.