"Peter Aitken" > wrote

> I was discussing this with friends and the general consensus was that
> Benny was selected because (1) He will follow essentially the same
> policies as JP2, and (2) He is old and will not be pope for that long. In
> other words, a relatively brief period with a caretaker pope before
> electing someone who might want to put his own mark on church policy.

Funny, I read sometime back, I mean at least a year ago, that some
analyst said the next pope will be old. Consensus being John Paul II
had far too much time to put his stamp on the church. But, geez, I
didn't think they'd get someone that old and in that physical condition!

nancy