Pope Benedict XVI

I hope that Catholics around our sorry globe have the same kind of patient response to the events in Rome that progressives in America have had to try to muster in the wake of the last two presidential elections. Josef Cardinal Ratzinger, an inveterate ueber-conservative, seems a very unfortunate choice for Pope for anyone who believes in inclusiveness, consensus, openness and the concept of a popular church, but his reign will inevitably be relatively brief, and perhaps the future will hold a new outlook. Sorry, that's the best I can do in the way of optimism.