Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger has been elected the new Pope, Pope Benedict XVI. He was one of the few names I was familiar with amoung the Cardinals, so if I had to make a guess, that would have been it. As a Cardinal, Ratzinger assisted Pope John Paul quite often (which is why he was mentioned often in the news, which is why I was familiar with his name). Ratzinger has a similar philosophy to Pope John Paul. Yet some were hoping for a Pope that would allow priests to marry, allow women priests, and back off of the Church’s strong opposition to Birth Control, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, and Abortion.
I believe that there was some sort of divine intervention that somehow made whomever was elected Pope would be consistant with the teachings of the Church so that there would suddenly not be a change in doctrine. Just wondering if the cafeteria Catholics (or Kerry Katholics as I refer to them from the 2004 election) are going to start panicing.
MSNBC showed comments from leaders around of the world, and of all people, Sen. Ed Kennedy commented on the Pope. Just generic stuff and nothing controversal, but there are several other Catholics in the House or Senate that would be better for comments on this issue.