Two months after his historic resignation, Benedict XVI was set to return to the Vatican on Thursday, where he will live in a former monastery in an unprecedented arrangement that will see a pope and a former pope both housed in the tiny state.
Benedict will leave by helicopter from Castel Gandolfo outside Rome , the papal lakeside residence where he has been staying since he stepped down at the end of February, and is expected to touch down in the Vatican at around 1430 GMT.
His successor Pope Francis will be there to welcome him back and may retire to pray with him. The current pontiff has made repeated gestures of friendship towards Benedict, visiting him in Castel Gandolfo , calling him on his birthday and holding mass for him.
The German-born former pope, who resigned because of old age, will move into the Mater Ecclesiae monastery building within the Vatican grounds — an oasis of calm with its own vegetable garden and blooming flowerbeds — which has been renovated for him.
There Benedict plans to carry out a life of quiet contemplation and academic research.