VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - FEBRUARY 27: Pope Benedict XVI is helped onto the dias by his personal secretary Bishop Georg Gaenswein in St Peter's Square on February 27, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. The Pontiff has attended his last weekly public audience before stepping down tomorrow. Pope Benedict XVI has been the leader of the Catholic Church for eight years and is the first Pope to retire since 1415. He cites ailing health as his reason for retirement and will spend the rest of his life in solitude away from public engagements. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - FEBRUARY 27: Nuns run to get into St Peter's Square ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's last public audience on February 27, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. The Pontiff will hold his last weekly public audience later before he abdicates tomorrow. Pope Benedict XVI has been the leader of the Catholic Church for eight years and is the first Pope to retire since 1415. He cites ailing health as his reason for retirement and will spend the rest of his life in solitude away from public engagements.n(Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)hi tonyu

VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - FEBRUARY 27: Thousands gather in St Peter's Square as Pope Benedict XVI attends his last weekly audience on February 27, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican. The Pontiff has attended his last weekly public audience before stepping down tomorrow. Pope Benedict XVI has been the leader of the Catholic Church for eight years and is the first Pope to retire since 1415. He cites ailing health as his reason for retirement and will spend the rest of his life in solitude away from public engagements. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Pope Benedict XVI kisses a baby handed to him by secretary George Ganswein as he greets pilgrims in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI greeted the Catholic masses in St. Peter's Square Wednesday for the last time before retiring, making several rounds of the square as crowds cheered wildly and stopping to kiss a half-dozen children brought up to him by his secretary. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Faithful gather in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI has recalled moments of "joy and light" during his papacy but also times of great difficulty in an emotional, final general audience in St. Peter's Square before retiring. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

Pope Benedict XVI reads a message during his general audience in St.Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI has recalled moments of "joy and light" during his papacy but also times of great difficulty in an emotional, final general audience in St. Peter's Square before retiring. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Benedict XVI holds his last general audience in St Peter's Square at the Vatican February 27, 2013. The weekly event which would normally be held in a vast auditorium in winter, but has been moved outdoors to St. Peter's Square so more people can attend. The pope has two days left before he takes the historic step of becoming the first pontiff in some six centuries to step down instead of ruling for life. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (VATICAN - Tags: RELIGION)

POPE Benedict bid an emotional farewell at his last general audience today, saying he had done it for the good of the Catholic Church.

Speaking to a huge crowd of over 100,000 in St Peter's Square, the pope said he was aware of the "gravity and novelty" of his decision to resign and would "accompany" the Church in prayer even after his resignation the following day.

"I took this step in full awareness of its gravity and novelty but with profound serenity of spirit," he said.

The pontiff sent shockwaves around the Catholic world on February 11 when he announced his intention to retire on the last day of February - the first pope to do so since Gregory XII in 1415.

At just after 10.30am, a loud cheer rose as his white Popemobile appeared on the square and the 85-year old began his last tour through the crowd, pausing at one stage to kiss a baby held up to him.

About 60 cardinals were in attendance - over half of the full number of 115 who will elect Pope Benedict's successor when the conclave begins on an as-yet unspecified date next month.

Also in his speech, he said his Papacy had faced joy, but also had undergone "difficult moments".

Invoking a Biblical analogy, he said: "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."

Pope Benedict thanked his cardinals, colleagues and the faithful for their support and for respecting his decision to become the first pope in 600 years to resign. He said that "to love the church means also to have the courage to take difficult, painful decisions, always keeping the good of the church in mind, not oneself."

He told thousands that his decision to resign "is the fruit of a serene trust in God's will and a deep love of Christ's church."

He asked the audience to pray for the cardinals as they faced a weighty task choosing his successor and also to pray for whoever they chose.

At the end of his final address, the Pope received a prolonged standing ovation from the crowd and from the rows of cardinals and bishops.

After the general audience today, the Pope will meet a small group of heads of state and then will leave the Vatican later today and fly by helicopter to the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, until renovations have been completed on a monastery inside the Vatican walls.

Reuters