Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Why Ratzinger?

I was surprised at the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany as the next Pope but I should not have been.

A key feeling among the Cardinals, I think, was to give the legacy of Pope John Paul II a chance to continue to work its magic without jumping into a young Pope eager to also make his mark on the world. I guess they wanted a rest period of sorts.

The new Benedict XVI is 78 and definitely a staunch conservative. He will not rock the boat and at 78, he probably will not reign for a very long time - they hope. He looks pretty fit to me and very mobile.

Pope John XXIII was 77 when he came to the Papacy and he instituted Vatican II in his short time in Office but Benedict XVI is not John XXIII and would prefer to leave things the way they are, in fact, maybe tighten the screws a little more.

Catholic liberals are disappointed as they should be but hey, when things start falling apart maybe even these aging conservatives will agree that things need to change.

Janusz

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