U.S. Ambassador to Vatican Steps Down

The U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Raymond Flynn, said he will resign his post today. Sources said he is considering a run for governor of Massachusetts. The former Boston mayor has been ambassador to the Vatican since 1993. Flynn was expected to formally resign after his last official act, meeting with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. Since Flynn announced he would resign last spring, politicians have speculated about which Massachusetts office he would seek once he returned. He declined to say whether he would run for the governor’s post, saying only that he had learned “patience” as an ambassador. Since Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II announced last month that he would not run for governor, state Atty. Gen. Scott Harshbarger was left as the only announced Democrat in the race.