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The announcement by Pope Benedict XVI that he will resign on Feb. 28 shocked Catholics and non-Catholics alike. But after the conservatism of his papacy and that of his predecessor John Paul II, analysts say Benedict’s successor is unlikely to bring major change to a church shaken by scandal and declining faith. In the crypt of the Washington Basilica, America's largest Roman Catholic church, Monsignor Vito Buonanno echoed the shock many Catholics felt over the first papal resignation in six centuries. "We ask the Lord to steady us at this time of uncertainty," he said. But Buonanno says he understands why Benedict XVI decided he no longer should be the leader of the world's one billion Roman Catholics. "This must have been a very difficult decision. And that I respect very much because I know this was something that was seriously thought over and prayed over," Buonanno said. The pope did leave hints, says spokesman Don Clemmer of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "In April 2009, he visited the tomb of Pope Celestine V who resigned in the year 1294, one of the only popes ever to do so. Small symbolic things, but maybe hints, that this was on his mind," Clemmer said. But the resignation comes as Evangelical Protestant churches are on the rise in the developing world and the Church is dealing with a corruption scandal involving the Pope's butler. Benedict did take uprecedented steps against pedophile priests, says Clemmer. | 
