A new Pope has been presented.

The over one billion Catholics have a new Father, and one of the worlds smallest states has a new leader.

Cardinal Ratzinger is a hard line conservative, who was the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He has been very aggressive using this office to stifle dialog that he considered too liberal. He has defined homosexuality as a moral disorder, so we already know he has defined himself as a bit wack on that point alone. He has even dabbled in American Politics, encouraging the denying of communion to pro choice politicians.

His policies and his habit of the aggressive suppression of liberal thought is blamed by some for contributing to the decline in the active Catholic population in Germany. The church has been seeing it's rolls drop by 150,000 members a year for a while now.

Despite this, don't expect much reform from this Pope. He has made statements in the past that seem to almost look forward to being in an 'unpopular' church.

The next few years will maybe be even more dictatorial that those of the rule of John Paul II, but there may be a small chance of seeing change. This election is too complex to see as just an endorsement of the continued ultra conservative past of the Church. His age might also indicates that the College of Cardinals were looking for a short term from the next Pope. This could be a hopeful sign, that at least some of the leadership want to make some small changes the direction of the church.


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