RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Roman Catholics around the world expressed disbelief and grief Monday at the first papal resignation in six centuries. Some saw it as a dramatic act of humility, others as a sign of crisis in the Roman Catholic Church. Many more expressed hope that a more dynamic and charismatic new pope – ideally one from the developing world – could energize the church and lead it into a new era.

Still, shock was the overwhelming first response to Pope Benedict XVI’s announcement Monday that he would retire Feb. 28.

“He can’t quit like that. This can’t be,” said Alis Ramirez, an ice cream seller headed to church in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. “A vacuum is created. It’s like when a loved one dies.”

The news also brought reawakened calls for a more energetic successor, perhaps one from the global South, long considered a bulwark against continued losses in church membership in Europe and the United States. While the church has been battered by growing secularism and sex abuse scandals in the northern hemisphere, the number of believers is growing in Africa, and half the world’s Catholics live in Latin America.

“We need someone young who can bring back the dynamism to the church,” said Zulma Alves, a cook who was lighting candles in front of a Rio de Janeiro church that was closed for Carnival.

Others praised Benedict precisely for his defense of traditional values.

“He has always been a defender of the faith against women in the clergy, against Planned Parenthood, against abortion. He’s been a defender of the faith against heresies in the church,” said Eric Husseini, a member of the conservative Catholic movement Opus Dei, after attending morning Mass at St. Mary Catholic Church in Hagerstown, Md.

Many Catholics praised Benedict for bravery and modesty in deciding to step aside.

The resignation was an act of deference to the greater good by a man “demonstrating his humanity,” said Father Luis Rivero, Archdiocesan director of campus ministry for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami.