An announcement from the Pope stunned the world Monday.

Pope Benedict XVI announced that he will resign Feb. 28, the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years.

The 85-year-old cites declining health as the main reason for his retirement.

Bishop John Noonan of the Orlando Catholic Diocese was one of the first bishops named by Pope Benedict in the U.S. He said this will raise questions about popes possibly stepping down before they die and actually retiring.

"It’s a moment for the church to reflect and see its role," Bishop Noonan said. "I think Benedict realized in a very special way that the church has a very important role to play. Even as a bishop I'm supposed to retire at 75, so he is probably saying 'Do we need to have a limited time that the bishop of Rome has to retire to?'"

The pope announced his decision in Latin during a meeting of Vatican cardinals Monday morning.

You can read his full statement HERE.

He emphasized that carrying out the duties of being pope — the leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide — requires “both strength of mind and body.”

“After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” he told the cardinals. “I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only by words and deeds but no less with prayer and suffering.

“However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of St. Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary — strengths which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”

The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415 in a deal to end the Great Western Schism among competing papal claimants.

Benedict called his choice “a decision of great importance for the life of the church.”

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Process to begin for replacement for Benedict

The move sets the stage for the Vatican to hold a conclave to elect a new pope by mid-March, since the traditional mourning time that would follow the death of a pope doesn’t have to be observed.

Despite the decision coming between Christmas and Easter, a special time for Catholics, Bishop Noonan of the Orlando Catholic Diocese believes the timing is right.

"He probably feels that if he can't be participating in some of the wonderful ceremonies, the stations of the cross where they walk from the pantheon, again you I think that’s what he sees," Bishop Noonan said.

There are several papal contenders in the wings, but no obvious front-runner — the same situation when Benedict was elected pontiff in 2005 after the death of Pope John Paul II.

Contenders to be his successor include Cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan; Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, the archbishop of Vienna; and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Canadian head of the Vatican's office for bishops.

Longshots include Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. Although Dolan is popular and backs the pope's conservative line, the general thinking is that the Catholic Church doesn't need a pope from a "superpower."

"I'm just laughing because that was the first thing everyone said this morning," Bishop Noonan said. "Because usually when you get an indication the holy father is not well everybody starts speculating. I wouldn't even want to speculate, remember what happened with John Paul II? Everybody got it wrong."

All cardinals under age 80 are allowed to vote in the conclave, the secret meeting held in the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals cast ballots to elect a new pope. As per tradition, the ballots are burned after each voting round; black smoke that snakes out of the chimney means no pope has been chosen, while white smoke means a pope has been elected.

Popes are allowed to resign; church law specifies only that the resignation be "freely made and properly manifested."

Only a handful have done so, however, and there's good reason why it hasn't become commonplace.

Might the existence of two popes - even when one has stepped down - lead to divisions and instability in the church? Might a new resignation precedent lead to pressures on future popes to quit at the slightest hint of infirmity?

Benedict himself raised the possibility of resigning if he were simply too old or sick to continue on in 2010, when he was interviewed for the book "Light of the World."

"If a pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign," Benedict said.

The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had an intimate view as Pope John Paul II, with whom he had worked closely for nearly a quarter-century, suffered through the debilitating end of his papacy.

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Vatican: Benedict XVI too weary to remain pope

When he became pope at age 78, Benedict XVI was already the oldest pontiff elected in nearly 300 years. He's now 85, and in recent years he has slowed down significantly, cutting back his foreign travel and limiting his audiences.

The pope travels to the altar in St. Peter's Basilica on a moving platform to spare him the 100-yard (-meter) walk down the aisle. Occasionally he uses a cane. Late last year, people who were spending time with the pontiff emerged saying they found him weak and too tired to engage with what they were saying.

The Vatican stressed on Monday that no specific medical condition prompted Benedict's decision to become the first pontiff to resign in 600 years. Still, Benedict said his advanced age means he no longer has the necessary mental and physical strength to lead the world's more than one billion Roman Catholics.

That Benedict is tired would be a perfectly normal diagnosis for an 85-year-old pope, even someone with no known serious health problems and a still-agile mind.

He has acknowledged having suffered a hemorrhagic stroke in 1991 that temporarily affected his vision, but he later made a full recovery. In 2009, the pope fell and suffered minor injuries when he broke one of his wrists while vacationing in the Alps.

A doctor familiar with the pope's medical team told The Associated Press on Monday that the pontiff has no grave or life-threatening illnesses. But, the doctor said, the pope - like many men his age - has suffered some prostate problems. Beyond that, the pope is simply old and tired, the doctor said on condition of anonymity.

According to the pope's brother Georg Ratzinger, the pontiff was told by his doctor not to take any more trans-Atlantic trips. In fact, the pontiff's only foreign trip this year was scheduled to be a July visit to Brazil for the church's World Youth Day.

When he became pope, Benedict replaced John Paul, who died in 2005 at the age of 84. He was the Vatican's most-traveled pontiff, visiting 129 countries during his nearly 27-year papacy and had captured the world's affection like no other pope.

In the last year of his life, John Paul was forced to curtail his travels because of old age and illness, including trembling hands and slurred speech, an inability to walk or hold his head up, and other symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

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Local reaction to the pope's announcement

Orlando Bishop John Noonan:

"We are blessed to have the grace of Pope Benedict XVI as a priest and shepherd of the Catholic Church. We pray for him and journey with him as he moves toward his retirement. We pray for our Church that the Holy Spirit will guide her during this period of transition."

St. Petersburg Bishop Robert Lynch:

"Stunning to many and surprising to some. I've had the unique privilege in my own priestly life to come to know Joseph Ratzinger very well, and when he said shortly after his election as our pope that he would resign if his health ever did not permit him to fulfill his responsibilities as he saw fit, I believed him then.

"His own succession followed, as all of you here will remember, a long period of serious illness of blessed Pope John Paul II, during which the world watched a once-formidable figure who survived an assassination attempt die slowly, painfully, but as an example for us all. Pope Benedict watched that chapter of the church's history, and from the beginning he did not wish to repeat it, so he has done what he said he would do, and once again I think has demonstrated his love and zeal for the church.

"I repeat, once again, what I said at the time of his election, the church was given a leader with an incredible intellect, a pastor's heart and a very patient listener. I sensed, when we briefly reminisced about our work together last May when I visited for my ad limina visit, that I was saying goodbye.

"I'm happy for him that he is going to spend the rest of his days on Earth in peace and prayer and study, and I shall always thank him for his love of the church. I ask the Catholic faithful of the Diocese of St. Petersburg to especially pray for Pope Benedict between now and Feb. 28, and only then we will begin our prayers to the Holy Spirit for our new Holy Father, whomever he might be."

Sen. Marco Rubio:

“Today Pope Benedict XVI displayed the qualities of an excellent leader and a true man of God by putting the interests of the Vatican and the Catholic Church over his own papacy. Since becoming pope in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI has served the Church honorably, particularly through his work promoting charity across the globe. I wish him well in the future and, as a Catholic, I thank him for his service to God and the Church. I also look with optimism toward the future of the Catholic Church as it prepares to welcome a new leader and as it continues to spread God’s message of faith, hope and love to all the corners of the world.”

President Barack Obama:

"On behalf of Americans everywhere, Michelle and I wish to extend our appreciation and prayers to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Michelle and I warmly remember our meeting with the Holy Father in 2009, and I have appreciated our work together over these last four years. The Church plays a critical role in the United States and the world, and I wish the best to those who will soon gather to choose His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI’s successor."

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.