AUSTRALIAN Catholics will be surprised to find Pope Benedict XVI is resigning, but will be supportive of his decision, a senior member of the Catholic Church says.
The 85-year-old Pope Benedict XVI announced his decision to step down during a meeting of Vatican cardinals on Monday morning (local time) - saying age prevented him from carrying out his duties.
He will officially resign on February 28, making him the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years.
Father Brian Lucas, the general secretary of the Australian Bishops Conference, said he saw the news break on TV on Monday night and had no prior knowledge of the decision.
"This has come as a surprise," Father Lucas told AAP.
"It is a very courageous decision of the Pope for the good of the Church.
"He has recognised that his health and age are impeding his ability to fulfill his role and for the good of the Church has indicated that the time has come for the election of a new Pope.
"I was in Rome with the president and vice president of the Bishops Conference three weeks ago and it was evident that the Pope was frail.
"While he is certainly mentally very alert, the physical demands of the role and the travel and all that is required in the modern world has led him to reflect and pray and take this very courageous and serious decision."
Father Lucas said Australian Catholics would be surprised.
"They will react with surprise but they will be fully supportive of his decision and they will be with him in prayer," he said.
"They will be with the cardinals who gather in Rome to elect a new Pope."
But Tim Fischer, Australia's first ambassador to the Holy See, said the resignation was not unexpected.
"In 2010, in the middle of my posting, the Pope said 'yes' he could resign and in certain circumstances it would be his duty to reign," Mr Fischer told AAP.
"Pope Benedict XVI tried to steer the huge ship of state of the Holy See to a better place and his seven-year papacy will be greatly respected in history."
Mr Fischer, a former politician and deputy prime minister under the Howard government, was ambassador to the Vatican for three years, returning to Australia in January 2012.
The Pope has received best wishes from other politicians.
Labor's former prime minister Kevin Rudd tweeted his best wishes, saying "He has a deep affection for our country".
"Extraordinary news of the Pope's resignation because of ill health
"All Australians wish him well."
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce also took to twitter to thank the Pope.
"Wish him the best, thank him for his work and ponder who the replacement will be," Senator Joyce wrote.
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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