Benedict Leaves Vatican for First Retirement in 600 Years
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Pope Benedict XVI flew out of Vatican City for the last time as pontiff as he prepared to become the first head of the Catholic church to abdicate in 600 years.
The pope, 85, boarded a white Italian government helicopter with the white and yellow Vatican flag in the window that lifted off shortly after 5 p.m. in Rome as church bells sounded across the city. After a 15-minute flight that took him over some of the ruins of ancient Rome, he touched down at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo.