Benedict drew an analogy between his reign and a miracle recounted in the Bible when Jesus Christ calmed the waters as he was sailing on a fishing boat with his disciples including St Peter - who is believed by Catholics to be the first pope.
"The Lord gave us days of sun and of light breeze, days in which the fishing was good. There were also moments when there were stormy waters and headwinds... as if God was sleeping," the pope said in an apparent reference to the multiple scandals that have plagued his reign.
"But I always knew that God was in that boat and I always knew that the boat of the Church is not mine, is not ours, but is his and he will not let it sink," the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics told the cheering crowd.
"I never felt alone," he said.
Benedict said his decision to resign - which makes him the first pope to do so since the Middle Ages - had not been an easy one, but had been taken for the good of the Church.
"I took this step in full awareness of its gravity and novelty but with profound serenity of spirit," he said, adding: "I will continue to accompany the Church with prayer and reflection."
"The Lord gave us days of sun and of light breeze, days in which the fishing was good. There were also moments when there were stormy waters and headwinds... as if God was sleeping," the pope said in an apparent reference to the multiple scandals that have plagued his reign.
"But I always knew that God was in that boat and I always knew that the boat of the Church is not mine, is not ours, but is his and he will not let it sink," the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics told the cheering crowd.
"I never felt alone," he said.
Benedict said his decision to resign - which makes him the first pope to do so since the Middle Ages - had not been an easy one, but had been taken for the good of the Church.
"I took this step in full awareness of its gravity and novelty but with profound serenity of spirit," he said, adding: "I will continue to accompany the Church with prayer and reflection."