Mich bishops: Brave decision by pope

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Fr. Ron Hutchinson of Holy Redeemer in Jenison arrived in Rome in January for three months of study. He was in class Monday morning when the program director came in with an announcement: Pope Benedict XVI was resigning.

In a phone interview with 24 Hour News 8, Fr. Hutchinson said the reaction in the class was not particularly emotional. It was more surprise and no one was sure how to react.

It's the first time  a pope has resigned since 1415.

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Photos: Pope Benedict resigns

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"If you were out in the piazza you wouldn't know it was any other day here in Rome, quite honestly," Fr. Hutchinson said, "except for the fact that there's tons of media with all of their trucks with the great big discs on the trucks."

In his brief time in Rome, Fr. Hutchinson said he saw Pope Benedict XVI a few times and he did appear to be tired.

In West Michigan, church leaders had no warning the pope would make this announcement.

Bishop Walter Hurley of the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids told 24 Hour News 8 he learned about the news through online, morning news bulletins. Bishop Hurley was last in Rome about a year ago and said at that time the pope was engaged in discussions, but it was obvious age had taken its toll.

He also said the announcement should not have been as much of a surprise as it seems. He said Pope Benedict had brought up the idea of resignation if he became ill even before he was elevated in 2005.

"I really think it's just a tribute to the man in recognizing that the church needs more than (he) can give it at this point," he said.

Bishop Hurley turned 75 last May, a near-mandatory retirement age for bishops. But the naming of his replacement may be delayed by the need to elect a new pope in March.

Hurley said he's healthy and has no need to retire right now.

Bishop Paul Bradley of the Diocese of Kalamazoo met Pope Benedict three times, the most recent just one year ago at the Vatican. Bishop Bradley said he could notice the pope's declining health at that time.

"I could sense that fact that he had really declined since the time before I had seen him. His mind was sharp -- is sharp -- but he was weaker and frailer that I had seen him," he told 24 Hour News 8.

In a statement earlier in the day, Bradley said, "While certainly unprecedented in modern history this decision, made by Pope Benedict, is another sign of his tremendous humility and great wisdom."

Archbishop Allen Vigneron, the leader of 1.3 million Roman Catholics in southeastern Michigan, said in a statement Monday that surprise was followed by "sadness, a sense of grief at losing his fatherly care for all us."

The leader of the Archdiocese of Detroit invited Catholics to pray for the pope and "guide him through what lies ahead."

Vigneron said "we look to the future with confidence, that the Lord who has given us this great pope and loving father, will give us a new shepherd of equal merit."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.