UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - To honor Pope Benedict XVI's papacy, St. Anthony and St. Agnes Church in Utica held a special service Thursday night. The mass was held to bring local parishioners together to celebrate the pope's last day.

"I wanted to say goodbye to Papa, the Holy Father," said Regina Aliasso.

"I was watching it on TV today and I thought this was a nice chance to go to an extra mass and to honor him," said Carla Nasto.

While he may be the first pope to retire in 600 years, many parishioners said they're proud of Pope Benedict XVI.

"I think it was a brave thing that he did," said Regina Aliasso. "I know I'm 74 and I don't know how I'd be able to do it, he's 86, 85-86 tough job."

For the his last day, the group of local parishioners came together to thank the pope him for guidance, wish him a happy and healthy retirement and pray for him and whoever his successor will be.

"I'm glad we still have things like this, locally because you don't want to watch everything on TV and you like to have something local so you know you're a part of it," said Carla Nasto.

"It gives us a chance to reflect on his legacy, his enormous contributions to the life of the church and the world," said Father Mark Kaminski. "It gives us a chance to pray also together as a community."