VATICAN CITY - Joseph Ratzinger of Germany is the new pope, the 265th leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

NEW POPE'S NAME IS BENEDICT XVI
Joseph Ratzinger, the new pope, has chosen the name Benedict XVI.

NEW POPE'S BIO
Following is a brief sketch of Joseph Ratzinger, the new Benedict XVI.

The white-haired Bavarian, who turned 78 on Saturday, is arguably the best-known cardinal in the world. As Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog, he was John Paul II's chief theological advisor for over 20 years. He has been the driving force behind crackdowns on Liberation theology, religious pluralism and challenges to traditional teaching on homosexuality and women's ordination. Vatican-watchers said he could be relied on to stick to John Paul's firm doctrinal line. But despite his reputation as a fierce enforcer of orthodoxy, and nicknames such as Der Panzerkardinal, he is said to be a gentle, caring soul. With his piercing blue eyes and utter conviction, he also has considerable charisma. He was born into a poor family in southern Bavaria, where his father worked in the local police and as a teacher. He doesn't like rock music, calling it the "expression of elementary passions" and a hot house for anti-Christian sentiment. He is known to be worried about the state of the Church. On Good Friday he bemoaned how much "dirt" and "arrogance" there was in it. At a pre-conclave mass he warned of the dangers of moral relativism, calling on cardinals to choose a pope who would guard the Church against the fickle winds of ideological fashion. As dean of the College of Cardinals, he had a high profile in the days after the death of John Paul II. He presided over the late pope's funeral and led his colleagues into the Sistine Chapel for the conclave yesterday. He was always seen as a strong contender for the papacy.

NEW POPE BLESSES CROWD
Joseph Ratzinger, 78, the Catholic Church's new pope, appeared at the main balcony of St Peter's Basilica and gave his first Urbi et Orbi (To the City and the World) blessing. "After the great pope John Paul II, the cardinals elected me, a simple, humble worker in the vineyards of the Lord," said the new pope, who has chosen the name Benedict XVI. "It consoles me that the Lord is able to work with inadequate instruments and above all I entrust myself to your prayers," he added, speaking Italian.

There will plenty of analysis of Pope Benedict's philosophical leanings, and what this means to the Church, his age, and so on. But what I find significant is this: with what we've been seeing in China with the anti-Japanese riots, look at how the Roman Catholic Church can elect a Pole, then a German, as Pontiffs. No one seems to care about the history between those two peoples, or the personal histories of Karol Wojtyla and Joseph Ratzinger in World War II. The Polish Pope and the German Cardinal were close personal friends. No Poles will gripe about a German being elected. No riots will happen. No one will dig up the past. For as much as critics seem to think the Roman Catholic Church is trapped in the past, they are focused on vestments and ceremony and liturgical scripts. They're missing the point. The Church is about repentance and forgiveness, which is about putting the past behind you, and looking forward.

But I doubt the critics will notice that.

The "progressives" within the Church will have begun to cover themselves in sackcloth and ashes as I write. If you listen closely you can hear them wailing and weeping and gnashing their teeth. (It's enough to warm the heart of any true Irishman)