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Gerard O’Connell, a Vatican correspondent who has covered the church for more than three decades, said Benedict received an emotional send-off on par with previous popes — but in 2013, when he abdicated. More than 100,000 people gathered for his final address, some in tears, as he talked about loving the church and having “the courage to make difficult, painful decisions.” The next day, he was whisked away by helicopter to his summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, no longer the pope. “I remember very well the feeling of mourning, of emotion,” O’Connell said.
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