Studies in contrast

Yesterday John Gibson gave use a visual study in contrasts between two group of women and their reactions to Pope Benedict X VI. This was quite illustrative and today Matt C. Abbott brings us a great story about a youth rally for our new Pope in from of the same Cathedral in Chicago that the group of dissident nuns had been picketing earlier this week. The pictures he has of the event are just great. Of course Matt also seems to be the only one to cover this. A simple Google search for this event only shows up his URL. The protest event earlier this week garnered an much larger collection of stories Google News.

Every time I see our new Pope's picture on the web or on my computer's wallpaper I still get this feeling of both joy and surprise. I didn't really know what to make of most of the conclave media analysis other then that I suspected that most of the common knowledge was going to turn our wrong. One oft piece of analysis was that if a pope was selected fairly quickly that it would be Josef Ratzinger. When my wife called to tell me about the first puffs of white smoke I raced home from work with that thought in mind that it might actually be Cardinal Ratzinger. I certainly wasn't in the mode for the extremely slow deliverance of the news by Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez. I considered his pauses more than just showmanship but a form of torture. Though when I heard the word Josef I knew instantly what had just happened.

The question I wondered though is how it happened. We all hear such negative news stories about our Cardinals that we forget that the majority of news stories are negative or manipulative of information. That the media's common portrayal of Cardinal Ratzinger was known by the Cardinals who knew him to be totally spin. Still knowing the media outcry that would pursue you could certainly come to the conclusion that it was something more than just a block of Cardinals throwing their support around Josef Ratzinger, but that the Holy Spirit had stiffened their spines. Some have called his election to the papacy Pope John Paul II's first miracle of intercession. I certainly like that view.

A reader of mine named Fred has an alternative and plausible explanation.

Did you hear that some liberal cardinals misunderstood the rules for the conclave? Apparently confused by watching hours of Survivor, liberal cardinals thought that they were voting Ratzinger *off the island*.

Now as thrilled as I am though about our new Pope I am totally with Dale Price when he says SuperPope does not exist. Dale rightly puts it all in perspective when he says "Things will get better. But far more slowly than any of us want them to. Patience, people." I wrote previously that it didn't matter how many tools the late and great John Paul II gave us that they don't have much affect where they are not implemented. My joy is tempered with the reality of the situation, but we need to step up in prayer and action to help implement what JP2 called a new springtime for the Church. He said it conditionally because it was conditional on us to implement it.

Around St. Blogs there have been various attempt to come up with a new slogan for Pope Benedict XVI along the lines of the easily chantable "John Paul II, We Love YOU!" Nancy C. Brown at Flying Stars has come up with what I think is the best attempt so far.

BXVI, we love you, guy.

The Angry Twins have also come up with a few of their own slogans. My favorite being the first on the list.

Thank you G for our Papa B!

Zorak at E-Pression has come up with a great ditty to our new Pope sung to the music of the Mickey Mouse Club. I think that if I ever met Zorak and the Old Oligarch that I would have to be warned like the hyenas in "Who Killed Roger Rabbit" who were continuously in danger of laughing themselves to death.