Las Vegas bishop not surprised by pope’s decision

Bishop Joseph A. Pepe of the Diocese of Las Vegas said Monday that, given the physical demands that come with the position, he is not surprised that Pope Benedict XVI would choose to resign.

"We always knew that eventually he’d make that decision," said Pepe, but "we didn’t know when that was going to happen."

Benedict’s legacy will lie in the "depth of understanding and scholarship" he brought to the church, Pepe said, and "the vitality and clarity he gave to his teaching."

Pepe said he has met the pope "probably five times" over the years, including once, in St. Peter’s Square, when the pope was still a cardinal.

"He was walking to lunch," Pepe said. "There is a favorite place a lot of cardinals go to, and I’ve eaten there quite a few times. He came out and was walking, and I thought, ‘Well, I have the collar on. I’m a bishop.’ So I introduced myself, and he was very pleasant."

Pepe always found Benedict to be an amiable man with whom one always felt "a sense of communication, of warmth, of welcome."

At official functions, Pepe said, "they always would tell us ahead of time, ‘He’s not going to stay too long,’ and he always stayed longer than we were expecting (him) to."

Moises Montes of Las Vegas, who stopped by Guardian Angel Cathedral Monday, said he wasn’t surprised that Benedict would choose to retire.

"As a Catholic, you expect (a pope) to die" in office, he said. "But I think he’s more pragmatic and more in-tune to everyday life, and he’s setting up a process."

Alejandro Czeisler of Las Vegas hadn’t heard the news when he arrived at the cathedral Monday afternoon.

"Wow, that’s unusual," Czeisler said upon learning of the pope’s imminent retirement. "Why would he do that? He’s very loved."

"I had never heard of a pope ever resigning. I didn’t even know that one ever did," Czeisler added. "But I can understand that. As times have changed, people may take a more conscious view of what they want the last years of their life to be."

And even if Pope Benedict XVI may not have been as charismatic or as popular as his predecessor, Czeisler said, "within the constraints of his office, I think he did a very good job."