Detroit -- The Church gives thanks for the role of the bishop of Rome, who prevents us "from taking counterfeit opinion in place of revealed truth," Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron said in a blog post about the Feast of St. Peter's Chair, Feb. 22.

The feast day, which celebrates and honors God's choice to establish the office of the papacy, comes just six days before Pope Benedict XVI will step down from the ministry due to declining health and old age. He will be the first pope in 598 years to do so.

Archbishop Vigneron wrote in the blog, set up to follow the papal transition at papaltransition.aod.org, that Pope Benedict's resignation isn't important because of his celebrity or worldly status, but because "he is Peter for us."

"The Pope’s ministry, in union with that of his brother bishops, gives us certainty that no mere man made this up, but that the Church is from God in order to lead us to God," he said.

Read the rest of the archbishop's blog post, as well as other news and commentary about the papal transition, at papaltransition.aod.org.