Joseph Ratzinger from Germany! I had been hoping they would go with a Latin American poope like they had been predicting. Not only because this would have probably been a Hispanic, but because it would have been the first Pope from the New World. I would also have liked an Asian or African Pope because that would also have been a break from a European Pope. Well, maybe next time.

It’s interesting to note how much the world has changed. I mean, it was important that Pope John Paul II was the first non-Italian Pope. But even more interesting to me is the fact that we just went from a Polish Pope to a German Pope only 60 years after the end of World War II.

This new Pope has taken the name Pope Benedict 16th. The news reported that he is one of the older popes in a while, he was born on 16 April 1927. He has his own fan website which can be found here. When I checked it was down, but that’s probably due to so many people trying to visit the page to find out about the new Pope.