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Pope's brother says Benedict won't return home

Posted: 02/12/13 at 6:45 am    Updated: 02/12/13 at 7:36 am
Tags: Pope Benedict XVI   resignation   Georg Ratzinger   Germany     

BERLIN (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI's brother says he spoke with the pontiff after his surprise announcement that he was stepping down and that the 85-year-old is not planning on moving back to his German homeland after his retirement.

Georg Ratzinger, the pope's 89-year-old brother, said Tuesday that it made more sense for Benedict to stay in the Vatican.

"You don't transplant an old tree," Ratzinger told a small group of reporters at his home in Regensburg, a small city in southern Germany.

Ratzinger says his brother intends to lead a quiet life out of the public eye, and wasn't planning on publishing any more works.

He says "I don't think he will write anymore."

Ratzinger says he's already planning a visit to go see his brother later in the year.

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