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Benediction: the short blessing with which public worship is concluded
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I'm sorry, but he's too old to last, too conservative to grow or perhaps even preserve the Church, and too much an insider to speak to the disenfranchised outside of Europe that now make up the majority of the Catholic world. At best he will be a transitional pontiff and, in my opinion, this transition marks the beginning of the end for the current Catholic bureaucracy.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if another 'Vatican' and pope sprang up in Latin America. Over 40% of the world's Catholic population lives there. I really thought Arinze would have made a good compromise, as someone outside of Europe, and being conservative but representing willingness to change and cooperate with other world religions. The Church apparently wasn't interested.

My intuitive guess is that this Benediction will last no more than three years. We'll see if St Malachy's prophecy carries on and there is only one more pope before it's all done. In the meantime, we'll also see how Benedict XVI may or may not be the Gloria Olivae, whatever that truly means. I am getting vibes which are nothing like the peace of an olive branch. I've heard that Ratzinger was a Hitler youth. The phrase Uber Pontiff comes to mind, and not in a good way. Then again, I could be wrong. The one good thing he may be able to accomplish is a crackdown on the sex scandals.