Why don't we all wait and give the new Holy Father a chance. From what I know of him he is a very intelligentand brilliantindividual. I get the impression that no matter who was elected there would be dissenters in this forum.
I am a practising catholic and really thought that a pope from Africa or South America would be a good move, but that was not to be.


I have just one comment re progressive changes, that is that, just because they are progressive does not make them right. Everything new is not necessarily the way to go. We have certain beliefs in the catholic church, it is not a buffet table, we cannot choose the ones we want and the ones we don't want. When we deliberatley and knowingly act against the teachings of our faith then we in fact excommunicate ourselves (ego excommunicato) and cease to be a practical catholic., however we all have to live by our own conscience as well, so many things in the world today do cause problems for catholics.

The one big concern I have is how to stop the spread of AIDS without the use of condoms ?. It will be a poser for Benedict XVI, and I hope and pray he is guided to make the right moves.