Pope will keep title 'His Holiness' after resignation

Pope Benedict will keep the honorific title of "His Holiness" after he abdicates and will be known as "pope emeritus," the Vatican said.

He will wear a "simple white cassock" and his ring of office as pope will be destroyed according to Vatican tradition, a spokesman told a briefing.

Benedict on Thursday will become the first pope in some six centuries to resign instead of ruling for life.

Given the rarity of the occasion, Vatican officials had been holding discussions about what he will be called and how he will dress.