""After our great pope, John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble worker in God's vineyard,""

Yes... Given his record, I'm sure he will take on the role of trampling out the grapes.

NPR gave a run down of this guy and a bunch of others that were up for selection. This guy was far more 'conservative' (*) than JP, and in fact is credited with formulating some of the more 'iron clad' philosophies that JP propagated.

I'm not a fan of the Catholic church, philosophically. Their stance on Birth Control and prophylactics has contributed to the crises of South America, and their stance on Social Justice issues in the last 30 years has made the church the erstwhile ally of totalitarian states (or at least those who don't seek to push out the church). While I respect the fact that a great deal of people looked to JPII as some sort of enlightened godly man (and thus will attribute good to all of his actions on earth), I think the world suffered from his actions. Now with the elevation of this chap, from what I know, I expect more of the same.

I don't ever expect a catholic church that espouses even remotely liberal philosophies, individual rights or scientifically grounded ideologies- but I don't think its too odd to expect them to embrace human rights and social justice.

Davin L.

* although this should not be filtered through our liberal/conservative distinction, the appropriate term is closer to absolutist and authoritarian