VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday vowed “unconditional obedience” to his successor on his historic final day as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, when he will become the first pontiff to resign since the Middle Ages. “Among you there is also the future pope to whom I promise my unconditional obedience and reverence,” the pope said. “Let the Lord reveal the one he has chosen,” said the 85-year-old pope, wearing an ermine-lined red stole over his white cassock. “We have experienced, with faith, beautiful moments of radiant light together, as well as times with a few clouds in the sky,” Benedict said.