The lights are on in Pope Benedict XVI's apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, early Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. With a few words in Latin, Pope Benedict XVI did what no pope has done in more than half a millennium, stunning the world by announcing his resignation Monday and leaving the already troubled Catholic Church to replace the leader of its 1 billion followers by Easter. Seagulls fly in front of St. Peter's Basilca's central lodge, where newly elected popes make their first appearance, at The Vatican, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca Nuns pray inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. VATICAN CITY (AP) - The papal ring will be destroyed, along with other powerful emblems of authority, just as they are after a papal death. The retiring pope will live in a monastery on the edge of the Vatican gardens and will likely even give up his beloved theological writing. The Vatican went out of its way Tuesday to declare that for Pope Benedict XVI, retirement means just that: Retirement. With speculation swirling about his future role, the Vatican's chief spokesman explicitly stated that Benedict will not influence the election of his successor. And the Rev. Frederico Lombardi deepened the sense of finality by saying that after his Feb. 28 abdication, "objects strictly connected" with the papal ministry will be "terminated." Among these is the papal ring, used as a seal for documents, which is smashed upon a pope's death. And while the first papal resignation in 600 years has left behind a vast uncharted territory to navigate - how does one address or even dress a retired pope? - the church sought to send a clear message that Benedict will not be pulling strings from behind the scenes. "The pope will surely say absolutely nothing about the process of the election," Lombardi told reporters at a briefing. He will not interfere in any way. The Vatican has already picked out the pope's future home: A four-story building attached to a monastery on the northern edge of the Vatican gardens where cloistered nuns used to live. It has been under renovation for several months, although only a handful of Vatican officials knew that it would one day be Benedict's retirement home. From a new name to this new home to the awkward reality of having a reigning pope and a retired one, the 85-year-old Benedict has plenty of decisions to make as he becomes the first pontiff in six centuries to retire. Benedict said Monday he was stepping down because he simply no longer had the strength in mind or body to carry on. On Tuesday, Lombardi revealed for the first time that the pope has had a pacemaker for years and just had its battery replaced a few months ago. The pope's brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, told reporters in Germany on Tuesday that Benedict was planning to stay out of the public eye and will probably even stop writing - one of the favorite pursuits of the brainy theologian. As for the pope's new name, Burke said Benedict would most likely be referred to as "Bishop of Rome, emeritus" as opposed to "Pope Emeritus." It was not even clear whether the retired pope will retain the name Benedict, or revert to being called Joseph Ratzinger again. Benedict had been widely expected to issue his fourth encyclical, concerning faith, before Easter. Lombardi said the encyclical would not be ready before Benedict's retirement. He had been scheduled to go to a church on Rome's Aventine hill for the annual Ash Wednesday service starting the church's Lenten season this week; the service will take place in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome instead. Lombardi said a larger space was needed to accommodate the throngs expected to greet the outgoing pope - but observers suspect the Vatican may have also wanted to spare a tiring Benedict from the crowds along the hill. The Mater Ecclesiae monastery was built in 1992 on the site of a former residence for the Vatican's gardeners. Pope John Paul II had wanted a residence inside the Vatican walls to host contemplative religious orders, and over the years several different orders have come for spells of a few years, said Giovanni Maria Vian, editor of the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. The last such order of nuns left the residence in October, and renovation work began immediately afterward, Vian told The Associated Press. Georg Ratzinger confirmed that his brother has no intention of returning to live in his native Bavaria. "You don't transplant an old tree," Ratzinger said. Trisha Thomas contributed.