Today is the anniversary of a major moment in recent Church history. Ten years ago, on February 28, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation became effective and he left the Vatican to go to Castel Gandolfo. EWTN Vatican Journalist Rudolf Gehrig traveled to Pope Benedict’s hometown and met with a journalist who was very close to the late Pope. The journalist said all the conspiracy theories are not true and that Pope Benedict was in fact very ill. The late Pope had heart disease, blindness in one eye, constant headaches and early stages of Parkinson’s. Benedict also noticed that his memory was failing and had had insomnia since 2005. The late Pope thought he would die soon after retiring but in a surprising turn of events, his reign as Pope Emeritus lasted longer than his reign as Pope. However, according to the journalist, Benedict never regretted his resignation.