I'd thought it was a joke when I first saw a mention of this on Facebook, but apparently it's true. This is the first time in 600 years that a pope has resigned. It will be interesting to see if his replacement will be more willing to bring about any changes to the church's doctrine, e.g. the role of women in the church, birth control, etc.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/11/world/...ion/index.html