White smoke, lads 
Oh, I guess Iāll turn on the TV. I would like to see him come out and greet the people.
Oh, say, Peter, I just got the CD you recommended. I havenāt had a chance to play it but the booklet with it is great. The songs are translated absolutely literally, including repeats and all, so you can tell just exactly what word in Irish is what word in English. This is exactly what I want in a translation. It seems like a great deal to me. 20 Euros my husband said was like $26 or something which is darn cheap for 2 CDās and a huge amount of explanatory information. Thanks for the tip!
The stackās first black is white,
Her early hue is bright .
The first puff shows her power;
But only so an hour.
Then puff subsides to puff.
And white turn into gray,
Then gray will go away.
The white just couldnāt stay.
([u]weāre getting mixed signals[/u]) 
I just heard that itās Ratzinger. Iāll refrain from comment.
Pope Benedict XVI - Cardinal Ratzinger from Germany
Missy
Long may he live.
Wow! Really?!?! Thatās big news! Was gonna lurk around here some more, but gotta go check the news and call the hubby now!
Sara
PS: BTWā¦ Why is it that they rename the pope? The previous pope wasnāt christened John Paul and Cardinal Ratzinger is now to be known as Pope Benedict XVIā¦ and how do they come to deciding what that new name (like Benedict XVI, etc.) will be?
The new pope has used a chosen name since John II in 533, who thought his given name of Mercury unsuitable. Maybe sounded a little too mercurial. Name changing is fun. Try it. At least he didnāt choose Lorenzo, thank God. But he did choose that of another uilleann piper - Benedict K.
I see the conservatives won. Dale wonāt like that. All but two of the 115 college members were appointed by John Paul, and he was careful to select cardinals likely to carry on his own conservative ways.
āHaving a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism,ā
Joseph Ratzinger (4/18/2005)
Iām not so sure that more fundementalism is going to help the church. In my view Islamic, Christian and Jewish fundamentalism arenāt doing much to help the world unless youāre an Islamic, Christian or Jewish fundamentalist. Sort of like the previous pope, but more hard line and without the charm and charisma. Oh well.
I know nothing about the Catholic Church, but they said on the news that he had tried to retire several times but wasnāt allowed to. Can you imagine being a 78 year old man who wanted to retire finding out that you now get to be the Pope? What a great novel that could be. I suppose he knew it was coming and all, but I still feel sorry for him. Iām sure there are things involved that I donāt know about----so no offense given to anyone I hope.
āThe fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers. I entrust myself to your prayers.ā
ā Pope Benedict XVI
Apriil 19, 2005
Although Pope John Paul was socially conservative to a degree that alarmed my liberal Catholic relatives and friends, he held many views that not all conservatives would approve and acted accordingly. He was opposed to war including the current one in Iraq. He reached out to the worlds Jews and Muslims as no Pope before had done.
Cardinal Ratzingerās most recent job required that he police doctrine fairly sternly. His role wasnāt pastoral. He now has a new job (obviously.) Weāll have to wait and see how he approaches it. I wouldnāt expect reforms that would really please liberals. But I would expect a more sympathetic understanding of Western humanism than the last Pope displayed. Obviously, weāll have to wait and see.
As a progressive/reformer-type Catholic, I canāt say that Iām thrilled (or surprised) at this election. But, I am going to avoid catastrophizing over it and, for that matter, taking time to look up the spelling of ācatastrophizing.ā
Sometimes these guys get into office and surprise us. Plus, heās 78.
Choice of the name Benedict is very interesting.
WOW.
Thatās about all I am going to say for fear of giving offense.
A new Bishop of Rome.
I was at my grandparentsā house during the proceedings. My grandmother was disappointed she didnāt get to see all of The Price is Right. I guess Bob will have to wait another day.
A good deal of his message, as reported in the press, resounded with me, though I suppose, in the eyes of the Vatican, I am of the separated brethren.
I donāt see the value in āreaching outā to Islamic fundamentalists. They will just cut off your hand. I repeat, Islam needs a reformation from within. Kissing their asses will not make anyone safer in the West. Just look at the latest anti-American images from Indonesia, where tsunami relief was lavished. Yes, I am glad that everyone helped, but it did not loosen their āstiff necks.ā
I understand how many prosaically think the opposite and I think John Paul II said very important things vis-a-vis Judaism. But the madrasa crowd is something else. No, I am not calling for war by the new Pope, just rock-hard belief in the value and importance of his creed.
A pope well-known for not liking women or blacks.
Just what the world needs.
Why couldnāt we get the African guy? grumps
Glad Iām not Catholic right now anywho. At least heās old already, youāll get a new one in 10 years or less probably.
Iām glad we -didnāt- get the Nigerian candidate, actually. Heās one of the most anti-condom
people around, defending this with the argument that condoms are not 100% effective,
so people are in more danger by using condoms than by abstaining. (Which is literally true,
yeah, but makes the absurd assumption that people will abstain, which is statistically false.)
Anyway, an old white guy from Germany with a dislike of blacks, well, heās unlikely to have
much effect on condom use in Africa. The āfirst* African popeā (* in a very long time) would
have a very pronounced effect on condom use, and consequently, on the further spread
of AIDS.
I consider it disaster averted, personally.
I think heās quite conservative, more so than John Paul II,
but I donāt think heās a āfundamentalist.ā
Also I donāt know why heās supposed to dislike
blacks and women.
Part of his Catholic conservativism will probably include opposition to
the death penalty, opposition to wars like Gulf I and the
Iraq war, and a strong emphasis on economic justice
and the redistribution of wealth along socialist lines.
āConservativismā tends to mean different things
in different contexts, I think, though some
things he will support will please political
conservatives.
Also there are a good number of reports that
Ratzinger is a kindly and attentive fellow
in personāwe shall get to see what heās
like.
I believe that much of his āconservatismā is going to have no more bearing on non-Catholics than what theyāve already been subject to. Of course heās against all the same things that all of the other popes have been againstā¦I never could understand why anyone would think otherwise. But his reforms will come in the way of the Liturgy and the interior goings on in the Church (not social changes), and may go unnoticed to those who are not looking for them.