Like a tooth extraction, I can’t seem to keep my tongue out of the gap.  Anyway, while the preceding post pointed to the best way through the whole pope muddle in the long run, I must refer you now to a friend who writes shyly under a pseudonym and who has some serious observations to share.  A taste…

Benedict’s election seems to be close to the worst possible
result. There’s no chance that the moral issues that divide the church

– abortion, gays, divorce, contraception, the role of women — will be
downplayed. Nor will the needed decentralization occur. The
church window once opened by John XXIII will remain shut for another
pontificate. And, as a consummate Vatican insider, Benedict enjoys the
support of the curia, so there is little hope of him soon dying in his
bed like Pope JP1.