Tributes for Pope as decision to quit leaves world in shock

Religious and political leaders in Britain paid tribute to Pope Benedict XVI after he announced yesterday he was stepping down as leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Senior figures in the Catholic Church in Scotland, England and Wales spoke of the 85-year-old Pope’s “great courage” in declaring he was to resign as leader of the more than a billion-strong global Catholic Church because of his age and infirmity.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Scotland’s most senior Catholic – and the only British cardinal who will have a say in appointing a successor – said he was “shocked and saddened” and called on members of the community to pray for Pope Benedict XVI as his health deteriorates.

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