The new pope, Joseph Ratzinger, who has taken the name of Benedict XVI, is doctrinally, cast in the mould of John Paul II. That is to say, he is a doctrinal conservative when it comes to Roman Catholic doctrine and dogma. He has been described as a “hardline conservative”, “the ultimate Vatican insider, John Paul II’s right-hand man, and the man who for the last 24 years was the defender and promoter of an increasingly unbending orthodoxy. One of his nicknames was God’s Rottweiler” (Source: Daily Mail and Guardian). Continue reading