Speaker of the House John Boehner greets Pope Francis. (Photo By Bill Clark-PoolGetty Images)

House Speaker John Boehner is well known for getting a little weepy in public. So nobody really thought twice when the devout Catholic—who had himself orchestrated the Pope’s speech to Congress—started blubbering during the Holy Father’s appearance.

But a couple new reports suggest that the Pope’s visit really did hit him hard, and perhaps ultimately led to today’s unexpected news that he planned to step down not only from his position as House Speaker but from his House seat. Boehner, 65, had considered stepping down at the end of 2014, but he stuck around because of Eric Cantor’s unexpected defeat, according to one of his aides.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said that he thought the Republican leader “reached a feeling of peace about his own time in public life,” The Washington Post reported. It sounds a little speculative but Kaine told a group of students at Georgetown University today that he had been trying to get the pope to talk to Congress for 20 years. He must have thought, Kaine said, “‘I’ve done this thing, I don’t really have more to do; I now can say I’m stepping away.'”

A couple reporters from Politico and the Post had an interesting, if slightly uncomfortable, meeting with Boehner last night. Robert Costa writes that he had heard rumblings that Boehner would want to go out on a high note. Then Boehner showed up and began recreating his meeting with Pope Francis:

“The pope, he comes up the steps right there. He comes right here,” Boehner said, pointing down at my feet. “Right here? I asked. “Right here!” Boehner said, smiling. “Right here. When he gets here, there are all of these kids he is going to bless. And you know how I get.”

“You start crying?” I asked.

Boehner shot me a look as if that is obvious.

“So. So, the pope puts his arm around my left arm,” Boehner said as he pulls my arm up to his shoulder. Boehner was now fully committed to acting it out. “Hold on, hold on,” he said as I pulled my arm away. “Let me finish. The pope says to me, ‘Please pray for me.’ ”

“Please pray for me,” Boehner said as he dipped his head. “He said, ‘Please pray for me.’ ”

Boehner stood there for another 10 seconds, not saying a word, his hands at his sides, and then turned sharply toward his security detail, the now open doors and a shimmering sunset on Capitol Hill.

He asked if Boehner had anything left to accomplish as speaker and Boehner said “no,” laughed and more or less rode off into the sunset.

This morning Boehner got a little misty-eyed recounting his meeting with the Pope again. But then looked pretty light on his feet and even hummed a tune during a press conference:

Boehner’s resignation is being hailed by colleagues on both sides of the aisle as a “selfless” act that will prevent a government shutdown over federal funding to Planned Parenthood.