In German town, Benedict XVI known for love of cats, conversation - Yahoo! News:

"Hofbauer and many others in Regensburg, where the new pope remains on the faculty rolls, shared mixed emotions, pride and sorrow, when they heard the news. Georg Ratzinger said he almost feels as if he's lost his brother, knowing that it won't be easy to see him now.

"'I thought he'd retire soon, and we would finally have a lot of time to finish all the talks we've started through the years. We talked about that, just this Christmas when he was home,' Hofbauer said.

"'He thought it sounded nice, to retire, to take it easy. That's not how it worked out though, is it?'"

Kind of sad.