Perhaps Pope Benedict XVI was not laying his problems off on his boss.  But in his final general audience in Rome the outgoing pontiff said his reign say "difficult moments" when he felt that God "seemed to be sleeping".

Before the thousands of pilgrims who had crowded into Saint Peter’s Square, Benedict didn’t sound like a guy who ever really wanted the job.  When he agreed to his election by the College of Cardinals in 2005, he said he felt it was a “great burden” placed upon his shoulders.  And while there were good days, his papacy was made difficult by the Vatileaks affair and the ongoing clerical abuse scandal going on around the world.

The Pope also warned his successor that he would have no longer have a moment to himself:  "He who assumes the Petrine [papal] ministry no longer has any privacy.  He belongs always and completely to everyone, to the whole church.  His life is, so to speak, totally deprived of the private sphere."

Benedict’s last day is Thursday, his papacy officially ending at 8:00 PM, local time in Rome.