"Habemus papam"

We have a new Pope.

78 year old Cardinal Josef Ratzinger of Germany was elected on the 4th balloting at the Papal Conclave in Rome. It was the fastest election of a Pope in at least 100 years.

Ratzinger was introduced to the crowds at St Peters' Square as Pope Benedict XVI. Ratzinger had served Pope John Paul II since 1980, and was the Dean of the College of Cardinals. Also in his backround is that he is considered very conservative, going as far as to say the American press was exaggerating the sexual abuse claims against the preisthood, and he was responsible for the disiplicing of higher up memebers of the church when problems arose. One more interesting tidbit, after having Pope JP2 who had fought against the Nazi's in WWII, Ratzinger takes over after being a member of Hitler's Youth.

It will be interesting to see if Benedict 16 can even hold a candle to the legacy that he takes over for.