Final Farewell: Pope Benedict XVI recalls joy and 'choppy waters'

Pope Benedict XVI has admitted he faced "choppy waters" during his eight years at the helm of the Roman Catholic Church, but says he was guided by God and felt his presence every day.
The Pope, 85, will retire on Thursday - the first pope to abdicate since Gregory XII in 1415.
Thousands of pilgrims gathered in St Peter's Square in the Vatican for Pope Benedict's final general audience.
His successor will be chosen in a conclave to take place in March.
Pope Benedict told the crowd his papacy had been "a heavy burden" but he accepted it because he was sure that God would guide him.
At times he "felt like St Peter with his apostles on the Lake of Galilee", he said, making reference to the Biblical story when the disciples were battling against heavy waves and Jesus Christ appeared to them.
'Serenity of spirit'
After Benedict XVI steps down, he will become known as "pope emeritus".
"I took this step [resignation] in full awareness of its gravity and novelty but with profound serenity of spirit," he said in his address.
The surprise announcement of his abdication has required the rules of electing a successor to be changed to allow the next pope to be chosen before Holy Week, which leads up to Easter.
The white "popemobile" rolled slowly through St Peter's Square, carrying the 85-year-old Pontiff, who waved to the assembled pilgrims.
They chanted his name and thanked him for his service to the Church. At one point, Pope Benedict paused to kiss a baby who was passed up to him.

Many of the cardinals who will elect his successor are in the square.
The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome says that on Thursday the Pope will travel by helicopter to his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, about 15 miles (24km) south-east of Rome. He will cease to be Pope at 20:00 local time.
He will retain the honorific "His Holiness" after his abdication and will continue to be known by his papal title of Benedict XVI, rather than reverting to Joseph Ratzinger.
He will wear his distinctive white cassock without any cape or trimmings, but will surrender his gold ring of office and his personal seal will be destroyed
He will also give up wearing his red shoes.
"On the one hand I felt that since the decision that he would leave office and resign became public, Pope Benedict is relieved," said the head of the German bishops' conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch.
"But he also now feels the sympathy of the people for him, and therefore he will have a sense of melancholy and nostalgia, a bit of sadness."
Farewell
The title "emeritus" is used when a person of status, such as a professor or bishop, hands over their position, so their former rank can be retained in their title.
The Pope is to spend his final hours at his Vatican residence saying farewell to the cardinals who have been his closest aides during his eight-year pontificate, says the BBC's David Willey at the Vatican.
His personal archive of documents will be packed up and, at 20:00 (19:00 GMT) on Thursday, the Swiss Guard on duty at his Castel Gandolfo residence will be dismissed, to be replaced by Vatican police.
This will mark the formal end of his papacy and the beginning of the period of transition to his successor, due to be chosen next month
From 4 March, the College of Cardinals will meet in general congregations to discuss the problems facing the Church and set a date for the start of the secret election, or conclave, to elect Pope Benedict's successor.
That successor will be chosen by 115 cardinal-electors (those younger than 80 years old) through ballots held in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.
A two-thirds-plus-one vote majority is required. Sixty-seven of the electors were appointed by Benedict XVI, and the remainder by his predecessor John Paul II.
About half the cardinal-electors (60) are European - 21 of them Italian - and many have worked for the administrative body of the Church, the Curia, in Rome.