Father Mark R. Hession of Our Lady of Victory in Centerville said Pope Benedict the XVI was known as the teaching priest. Hession believes that even in his resignation the Pope is still teaching.

“I think he is teaching us in a very different kind of way. Today happens to be, in the Catholic Church, the world day of prayer for the sick. He is letting us know in the few sentences he has given us that he finds that it’s time for him to resign the office because of a combination of circumstances that are physiological,” Hession said.

Hession said it is a lesson we can all benefit from, knowing when to step down.

“He is teaching us by example to take responsibility for ourselves and be aware of ourselves and frankly I think he is teaching in a human way that we don’t claim to offices or power beyond out scope to be responsible to fulfill it,” Hession said.

Hession acknowledged that the news comes as a shock: The last Pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415.

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