Benedict XVI

German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is the new Pope Benedict XVI. The 78 year-old Ratzinger is conservative, traditional and intellectual--he's also a famously gifted debater. Though always the front-runner to succeed John Paul II, the conclave's selection of a German was a surprise--both because he's a minority in his native land and because (unlike Iberians) Germans have minimal ties to the peoples of Africa and South America. Moreover, as a youth, the new Pope was a member of the Hitler Youth, conscripted into, then deserted from, Hitler's army, and spent time in an American POW camp.

The predicable lefties are predictably upset: from single-issue Andrew Sullivan to surveys by Confederate Yankee and Wizbang of the inmates at Democratic Underground and Kos. But The National Review -- the embodiment of American intellectual Catholicism -- is overjoyed. Carpe Bonum summarizes the history, and beliefs, of the man now known as Benedict XVI.

I hope the new Pontiff's prepared for both media barrage and liberal skepticism; PunditGuy rounds-up the reaction so far. But I fear Scott Ott's hilarious take -- Senator John Kerry: new Pope has "no mandate other than an obligation to heal the wounds of the church and bring people together in the spirit of diversity" -- is all too accurate.

(via Powerline and Hugh Hewitt)

More:

Joe Gandelman's Ratzinger round-up and Jonathan Last's gallery of quotes.

(via Instapundit and The Corner)

Still More:

The deluge begins--in England:


The Sun, April 20th (click to enlarge)

(via The Corner)