Pope Benedict XVI

The Curt Jester Reports that Cardinal Ratzinger has been selected as the new pope.

I never saw this coming.

Ratzinger I saw more as the darling of young seminarians. He was well liked because of his orthodoxy or tradionalism.

I think JPII drew a lot of young people that were disaffected with today's modern society. There is a disconnect I think between modern society and many young people. The Pope drew on that dissatisfaction and presented a different type of culture.

It was a culture based on fidelity, honour, courage, fellowship, compassion, and faith. That is, in a nutshell, what drew a lot of young people to JPII. And those young seminarians, that will be JPII priests, saw that orthodoxy in bucketful's in Ratzinger.

Ratzinger's election is a real surprise not because of his orthodoxy, but because of his outspoken orthodoxy.

I was wondering about the same thing myself over the past few days. What does the world need? Does it need a Pope that will softly persuade people of the need of those values in today's world?

Or do we need a St. Augustine. Do we need someone to shake us up? I think we might have that answer today.