Pope John Paul II Cardinals would be the ones who would give him most support at his eventual election to the papacy In August 1978, following the death of Pope Paul VI, Cardinal Wojtyła voted in the papal conclave, which elected Pope John Paul I. John Paul I died after only 33 days as pope, triggering another conclave. The second conclave of 1978 started on 14 October, ten days after the funeral. It was split between two strong candidates for the papacy: Giuseppe Cardinal Siri, the conservative Archbishop of Genoa, and the liberal Archbishop of Florence, Giovanni Cardinal Benelli, a close friend of John
Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI a statement, Benedict cited his deteriorating strength due to old age and the physical and mental demands of the papacy. He also declared that he would continue to serve the church "through a life dedicated to prayer". Two days after the announcement, Benedict presided over his final public Mass, Ash Wednesday services that ended with congregants bursting into a "deafening standing ovation that lasted for minutes" while the pontiff departed St. Peter's Basilica. On 17 February 2013, Pope Benedict, speaking in Spanish, requested prayers from the crowd in front of St. Peter's Square for himself and the new pope. According