Does anybody know if McCarrick wanted to stay? I doubt that he (and John Paul II) intended for him to be archbishop for barely over five years.
Dear Revenge of Sith,
That's a very interesting question. I'm not sure anyone can say definitively.
However, shortly after the death of Pope John Paul II, the cardinal did start to talk publicly about retiring. He told the local press that he would be submitting his letter of resignation, as required by Canon Law, on his 75th birthday (July 7, 2005), and that he was looking forward to retiring and going fishing.
This leads me to speculate that he knew that Pope Benedict wouldn't be keeping him on for any significant period of time after his 75th birthday, and it would look like he was leaving of his own accord, rather than being pushed. At least as compared to how Pope John Paul II did things, Pope Benedict did not leave Cardinal McCarrick around very long after his resignation. I'd personally predicted a year to 18 months, to give Cardinal McCarrick enough time to save face. But here we are ten months later, and he's out.
sitetest