Pope Benedict XVI

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected as pope and taken the name Benedict XVI.

Benedict XVI is likely to be a highly conservative pope though likely to hold the post for long as he was 78 last Saturday.

As Cardinal Ratzinger, this man was responsible for reaffirming the sole validity of the Roman Catholic church over other Christian churches.

The new pope should be familiar to anyone who has been watching thenews as he presided at the funeral of Pope John Paul II and preached then and at the mass before the start of the conclave this week.

When I heard that white smoke had been seen this afternoon I thought it might well be Ratzinger who had been chosen as he was the most likely to get a clear majority so quickly, in my opinion.

I think it's a shame that this new pope is also European and in fact, from a place not so far from Poland, the birthplace of the last pope, in the grand scheme of things.

There is one thing that is fairly certain; we shall see the election of a new pope again within a decade or so.