BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Lisa Wangsness, John R. Ellement and Martin Finucane
| Globe Staff
February 12, 2013
BRAINTREE — Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley said today he was “kind of blindsided” by Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to retire while in office, and jokingly dismissed the suggestion that he might be chosen as the new leader of the Roman Catholic church.
“I haven’t lost any sleep about it,’’ O’Malley told reporters during an afternoon news conference at the Boston archdiocese’s headquarters here. “And I have bought a round-trip ticket so I’m counting on coming home.’’
O’Malley said he had not anticipated Benedict’s decision to retire Feb. 28 because of declining health instead of dying in office as most of his predecessors have done during the 2,000-year history of the church. Benedict is the first pope in nearly 600 years to retire.
“I was surprised as everyone else,’’ O’Malley said.
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