Habemus Papam

I honestly don't know what to make of Ratzinger. I believe there were two predominant issues to consider with his appointment: (i) trying to stem the liberalisation and "corruption" of Catholic doctrine (which is arguably either good OR bad) and (ii) trying to maintain sufficient levels of Catholic church membership. I think that, at least in most regards (but not in all) I agree with his values and interpretation of the Catholic faith, but selecting such a conservative figure at this juncture (did you know that for 23 years he was head of the organisation formerly known as the inquisition?) may have been strategically retarded on behalf of the Cardinals. This morning's FT cited worries about Catholic Church membership in Europe as one of this papacy's main concerns: with the polarisation of world politics into conservative imperialists (like the US) and liberal pansies (like much of Europe), could there not have been a better choice in response to this problem?

I have to start preparing my economy of Thailand presentation. Just a note: heard back from the IFC yesterday, and apparently I will be interviewing with them in DC from 9:45am through 6:30pm. I personally judge over 8 hours of interviews to be intimidating and insane. I hope I get the job.