Friday, March 1 2013 11:30 AM EST2013-03-01 16:30:45 GMT
(02/28/13) - Thursday, Pope Benedict the 16th's resignation takes effect. This historic day is being used as a teaching tool at catholic schools. Teachers are using this as an opportunity to teach students
Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI's resignation took effect.
Thursday, February 28 2013 5:32 PM EST2013-02-28 22:32:10 GMT
(02/28/13) - The retirement of Pope Benedict has touched a Mid-Michigan woman. She had the pleasure of seeing him three times. Those were experiences that shaped her life. The first time Hannah Turchi
The retirement of Pope Benedict has touched a Mid-Michigan woman
SAGINAW (WJRT) -
(02/28/13) - A Mid-Michigan nun has been watching coverage of the Pope's last day on the job since early Thursday morning.
She worked for Pope Benedict and knew him for several years before he became the leader of the Catholic Church.
Sister Yvonne Mary Loucks also worked for Pope John Paul II for 13 years up until the day he died, and while she was shocked when Pope Benedict resigned, she understands why.
"I was assigned to Rome and lived there for 16 years," she said.
During those years, Sister Yvonne Mary worked for two Popes in a communication office at the Vatican. Even though she worked with John Paul II for a longer period of time, she saw Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who eventually became Pope, almost everyday.
"He lived in an apartment just above the apartment that I lived in, so I saw him all the time, almost daily, I would ride up the elevator with him," she said.
On those elevator rides, plenty of conversation.
"Holy is the first word, very holy person, very much, very much aware of God always," she said.
She remembers coming home to Saginaw for one summer, and remembers how one man criticized Cardinal Ratzinger, before he became the leader of the Catholic Church.
"They used to call him the Rottweiler of the Vatican, and you know, he's mean and vicious and all that, and I said to this man, 'You just have to know him, he's none of that, very gracious, very kind,'" she said.
She last worked for Pope Benedict in 2006, and these past few days, she's been holding on to the last rosary he gave her. She says he she was shocked when the Pope announced he was retiring, since a Pope hadn't done that for more than 600 years, but she admires his decision.
"I think it's heroic, to actually say, I'm going to step aside because the church needs somebody that is fully functional and is able to carry this huge burden of leadership," she said.
Since she spent so many years in the Vatican, we asked Sister Yvonne Mary if she had any thoughts on who might be named Benedict's successor. She said she couldn't imagine who it might be.
