Habemus Papem

I wish Benedict XVI peace and strength. He's going to need both. Methinks that the Catholic church may end up in even worse schism than it is already. Given his age and the short duration of the conclave I can't help wondering if he was a compromise candidate whilst Southern America and Southern Africa get their act together and decide which kind of pope they want. The late Gerald Suster in 'The Elect' did a good job of showing how badly that might go wrong. I certainly hope that Benedict lasts longer than John-Paul I.
 
Now that there's a vacancy as head of the Inquisition - oops, sorry Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one wonders whether policies will change. Ignoring insignificant matters such as contraception and AIDS, under Ratzinger's leadership the Congregation declared that centring prayer was "...incompatible with the Catholic faith and [could] cause grave harm...", thus putting many North American monks and nuns all-a'flutter.
 
Had John-Paul II lived, he would probably have canonised Hildegard of Bingen fairly soon. One wonders what Benedict's position will be. She'd make a splendid German saint, but her visions and prophesies wer investigated by one of Benedict's predecessors and I have the feeling that had Ratzinger been at the head of the investigation, he'd have declared her heretic. Bavaria and the Niederrhine never really have go on too well.
 
I still wish Benedict strength and peace, but... Vaya con Dios, John-Paul II.

So was Benny-boy anything to do with Opus Dei? The worrying thing for me is, while I'm not too good with photos as you know, the picture of him here reminds me of that white-haired English actor who is always turning up as the sort of vicious criminal boss type in gangster films.

For the faithful the important thing is that the Church now has a Shepherd: the name, the person, the color of his skin, is less important. The decisive thing is that that man, whoever he might be, had become Peter, the new Vicar of Christ. His geographic origin, his age, are secondary features. It is the successor of the Prince of the Apostles that they awaited, that they are applauding.

Given your comments about the Africans, Ffetch, I wonder if we should read more into that statement.

As for his association with Opus Dei, perhaps someone with a more thorough grounding in Catholicism ought to comment. I'm not sure whether membership of the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei is a matter of public record, or even whether Ratzinger would have been allowed to be a member of such a sub-group whilst holding office in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.I'll say simply that as leader of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he was a known fan of Escrivá, the founder of "Opus Dei" and gave a personal testimony in support of Escrivá's canonisation. As for your quote, it's clear that not all Cardinals from, say, Brazil, are 'applauding', Prince of the Apostles or not.