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O'Malley Says He's Glad He Wasn't Chosen Pope

Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley says he has found the conclave to choose a new pope a "very prayerful" and moving experience, but he's looking forward to coming home in time for Easter week.

O'Malley spoke Thursday at a news conference in Rome about the election of Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, now known as Pope Francis.

O'Malley said he's glad not to have been chosen for the demanding job he joked isn't "a wonderful life."

"People talk about, you know, the palace that the pope has and everything," he said. But, "he's a prisoner in a museum, you know, it's not a wonderful life."

O'Malley, who became archbishop of Boston in 2003 and was named a cardinal in 2006, was among several cardinals touted in Italian media as a potential candidate for pope.

O'Malley's voice broke as he described watching the new pope lead thousands of people in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday night in "the simple prayers that all Catholics know."

He added: "it was very moving."

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom

This program aired on March 14, 2013. The audio for this program is not available.

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