A New Pope

I saw the news before lunch: a new Pope. To be honest I am disappointed in the choice, but when I heard about the candidates, I did not expect any better. Still, I hoped that a more progressive Pope would be elected. Someone like the Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodrigez Maradiaga or even Dionigi Tettamanzi. Here is a good general profile of all the candidates. Of course Ratzinger wins 2/3's of the vote. I am not sure how good that is, good because there is no question on majority and bad because he was the ultra conservative candidate. My reaction to him is pretty much the same reaction I have for Bush. Mainly because his doctrine track record and recent sermon bemoaning relativism and belief that the church holds the absolute truth. In other words, leading to more divisiveness. The perfect example being the pressure he exerted on priests in China not to preach acceptance of other faiths as a way of God... Issues such as poverty, AIDS, more rights for women in the church, homosexuality, and not to mention his actions to stomp down Liberation Theology. Personally, I believe the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is a step back by a few more decades... And we just went back a few more decades with the first election of Bush Jr. this past November...

Here are some good links to learn more about Liberation Theology:
Wickipedia has a decent general summary
Liberation Theology and Land Reform has a good historical background
Here is Ratzinger's position on Liberation Theology.