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Habemus papam!
I'll probably post something longer about John Paul II and Catholic politics (those who know SCA politics, increase the scale and you're not too far off) but it ain't happening tonight. I'll catch up with two days of friends posts tomorrow as well.
For tonight, I will just say that while I was surprised it took so few ballots, Josef Ratzinger was one of my Four Most Likely. (The Belgian guy, and the cardinals from Milan and Venice were the other three.) I expected all along that this next pope would be a holding action: European, conservative but not too reactionary, and hopefully one with good PR skills; but MOST importantly, *OLD*.
For tonight, I will just say that while I was surprised it took so few ballots, Josef Ratzinger was one of my Four Most Likely. (The Belgian guy, and the cardinals from Milan and Venice were the other three.) I expected all along that this next pope would be a holding action: European, conservative but not too reactionary, and hopefully one with good PR skills; but MOST importantly, *OLD*.
*nod*
Todays news reports suggest that God's Rottweiler will follow the lead of the Old Lion (Given the nature of the Catholic Church, he can hardly assume that Papa Wojtyla is not watching him!) It's pretty clear that the inflexibility was appropriate for the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is not going to be ok for the Pope, and that he realizes that.
I think it's also significannt that he was one of the few cardinals John Paul hadn't appointed.