Pope Benedict XVI attends a ceremony to mark the 900th birthday of the Knights of Malta, one of the most peculiar organizations in the world at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on February 9, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI announced during a mass Monday, February 11, 2013, that he plans to step down on February 28. Photo by Eric Vandeville/Abaca Press/MCT.

Pope Benedict XVI attends a ceremony to mark the 900th birthday of the Knights of Malta, one of the most peculiar organizations in the world at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on February 9, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI announced during a mass Monday, February 11, 2013, that he plans to step down on February 28. (Eric Vandeville/Abaca Press/MCT)