Filipinos never fail to surprise me with our sense of humor and great appreciation of irony. A few minutes (and I do not exaggerate this) after the camerlengo came out on the balcony to announce that Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger is the next Pontiff and that he had chosen Benedict XVI as his name, I received a series of text messages from an irreverent and funny friend of mine (who is also a very devout Catholic): "The church is safe, we have a new shepherd--a German Shepherd! The italian cardinals fondly call him Papa Ratzi!"
In the midst of the emotion-filled moments surrounding the confusion over the smoke and before the tolling of the great bell at St. Peter's Basilica, that text gave me more reasons to smile.
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