Simplify the following text for a Grade 11 native English-speaking person.
Original: In 1998 , Hume asked John Paul II for permission to retire , expressing the wish to return to Ampleforth and devote his last years to peace and solitude , fly fishing and following his beloved Newcastle United Football Club .
Simplified: In 1998 , Hume asked John Paul II for permission to retire , so that he could go back to his monastery at Ampleforth and spend some time fly fishing and watching Newcastle United Football Club .