Is the Pope Catholic?

Being so used to the phrase "Pope John Paul II" I admit that it will be a while before I get used to the sound of "Pope Benedict XVI." I had the same problem, as a boy of twelve, getting used to the sound of "Bush Administration" instead of "Reagan Administration". In 1989, Reagan was the only President I remember. As I was not yet two when John Paul II became Pope, he's the only pope I remember, though he was the third of my lifetime.

I will also freely admit to being a trifle surprised that the conclave elected Ratzinger. I was expecting them to go with the Nigerian, or one of the Latin American, cardinals (their names have escaped me). So, too, apparently did many of the press, who fairly frothed at the thought of the Church electing a younger, darker, liberal-er, dare-I-say-it sexier prelate. I can taste the disappointment in their copy: all that excitement, and waddya get? Another old white dude telling us we need to be holy. BOOOOORRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG....

ABC calls Ratzinger a "hard-liner," as though his views on abortion, homosexuality, etc., (you know, all the important things) were somehow different from those of JPII. In fact, if anyone had been paying attention, they'd have known that all of the "popeful" cardinals had been appointed by John Paul, and all of them solid on doctrinal fidelity as that pope viewed it. So, Andrew Sullivan's histrionics aside, no Pope elected today was going to be opening the preisthood to women or repealing Humanae Vitae. The Doctrine is the doctrine, consecrated by time and usage, and it doesn't change just because people wish it. If you have a problem with your Pope viewing the doctrine that way, then I have a place for you to go.

UPDATE: I haven't even read Sullivan's display on Benedict XVI, but the degree to which he has become a figure of ridicule is astounding, given how many of us stopped by his blog first thing in the morning two years ago.

ONE THING MORE: My girlfriend is a pro-choice Lutheran who voted for Kerry (which has got to mean it's the real thing). When we discussed the new Pope's positions vis-a-vis abortion, homosexuality, contraception and whatnot, she said, "Well, I wouldn't expect the POPE to approve of those things..." If she gets it, how come so many Catholics can't?