When Ratzinger told cardinals in the conclave why he wanted to take on the name Benedict XVI, "one of the things he alluded to was the fact that Benedict XV, the last pope to have that name, had one of the shortest pontificates of the 20th century," Allen said.
"So I think he has a very keen sense that this may not be a very long pontificate and there's an awful lot to do."
So the man elected to be the next Pope basically admitted ahead of time that he didn't feel like he had much time left to live. Which again leads me to the question of "Why did the Cardinals choose this man?" Was there nobody else deemed qualified?
It is interesting to realize that the man who will be chosen as the next Pope after Pope Benedict XVI was in the Sistene Chapel yesterday placing his vote. I wonder how close the voting was? Was there someone who failed to win the Papacy by only a handful of votes? If so, will he still be alive when the time comes again to choose a Pope. If so, will he garner enough votes next time to achieve the role of leader of the Catholic church?
It seems the Cardinals were content to pick a man that they knew would not have control of the reigns of the Catholic church for very long. It seems that although there has been a great amount of talk regarding consistency of beliefs and ideas between Pope John Paul II and his predecessor, perhaps there wasn't much importance placed upon consistency with regard to the person who is representing the Catholic church and being able to lead them for quite a long time.
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