I haven't talked much about our new pope - or the expedited sainthood likely for the previous one. I'm against both to be succinct. Ratzinger's tale of being forced to join the Hitler Youth doesn't ring true - sounds like a plausible deniability thought up by a slick PR machine - and we know the Vatican has that.

And while J2P2 was a man to be admired, he did his job. Did it well most would say. But that's not what makes a saint in my opinion - I think the threshold is a bit higher.

And through all of this, I keep wondering Why I Am Still A Catholic. Common Dreams published an article yesterday that sums it up for me. One major difference between me and the writer? I was born in May 1962.