Holy Smoke! a new pope

So a new pope has been elected, but it looks likely that current vatican doctrine will remain ultra-conservative. Former German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, is 78 years old and well known as a strict toe-the-line catholic scholar.

Liberal catholics will need to wait for issues such as gay marriage, women priests, married clergy, and the sexual abuse scandals in the US to be addressed positively.