STATUS QUO

Drafted into the Nazi youth movement against his will, the newly "elected" Pope Benedict XVI nonetheless espouses a theory Adolph Hitler himself could support.

Writes AP: Benedict has denounced rock music, dismissed anyone who had tried to find "feminist" meanings in the Bible, and last year told American bishops it was appropriate to deny Communion to those who support abortion and euthanasia.

A woman quoted in the same story cried upon hearing news of the papal election.

"This can't be true," she tells AP. "I had hoped so much that we would get a good pope who would do something for women. ... This is so terrible."

Similarly, E. made me laugh with her reaction when I told her.

"He's going to ruin all our lives."