It’s true, I almost never talk about my religion. It’s personal, private and can so easily offend pretty much every other soul on the planet.

However, today, my Church elected a new Pope. Pope Benedict the 16th…formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany. Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In short, someone who I had completely discounted for his so-called labeled “fundamentalism.”

I am now so pleasantly surprised.

Truth be told, I am an old-school Catholic. I like my Sunday services with less guitar and less ‘community.’ I find beauty (and ultimately God) in the ceremony of reverence and presentation. There’s a simple elegance to a traditional Mass that has long been pushed to the curb, especially in America. I never understood why the hand-holding, craft-making, camp song-singing masses of the counterculture revolution had to change a faith that’s been established for over 1900 years.

The pasteurization of my faith came through the 70s, during the cultural shifts (both globally and nationally). The church that I grew up with is all that I know, but I know that I do not like it. I can spot a fraud. And my current church (note the lowercase ‘c’ as denoting the physical church, not Church at large) is a fraud. I’m all for making religion “accessible” to modern day people, but cheapening it is not the way. And in my own, humble opinion, my Catholic faith has been a cheap substitution for as long as I’ve been alive.

John Paul did, as we all have been told over the past several weeks, amazing things for the faith. He brought it out of Rome and into the hands of the people. He was the true pilgrim of the faith. Among many other things, he demystified the position of the Vicar of Christ. But in the process, many people crucified him for not addressing the crumbling faith. I personally think that he knew that that was not his charge…he had other things to attend to (dissolution of Communism, etc).

And is it not fitting that now Benedict XVI is the man in charge of the Doctrine of the Faith? Perhaps now to attend to the rebuilding of the Faith itself, around the world? I also wonder if, since this supposed ‘fundamentalism’ will likely be received with ill acceptance the world over, an actual schism of the faith would occur. American Catholicism vs. Roman Catholicism? I could see it happening. I could also see this papacy being one of Peace…extending peace throughout the world. In a globe torn by religious strife and wars, I could easily see this as Benedict’s papal banner.

I don’t pretend to know anything. I just have my hopes.