Benedict XVI

(Note: This post has been updated (1) as of 2:50 AM Eastern on 21 Apr. See below.)

I have rather high expectations of this Pope. From all I've heard and read, he's, IMNCO*, exactly the right choice for the Church vis-à-vis his stance on Catholic doctrine. And the single most important act he could undertake (again, IMNCO) is to restore the Latin Mass, and make it mandatory for all the world's Catholics. Of the very great damage done the Church by Vatican II, the most damaging single decision was to OK the celebrating of the Mass in the vernacular of whatever country it was celebrated.

Dreadful decision from any standpoint one chooses to view it.

*In My Not Christian Opinion

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Update (2:50 AM Eastern on 21 Apr): Alex Ross quotes a commentator on the new Pope, and comments:

[It's not] likely that we will be hearing much twelve-tone music in the Vatican. According to a paraphrase by a commentator, Benedict disapproves not only of "pop (a manufactured commodity)" but also of "rationally constructed high-brow music (an elite, degenerate form of 'classical' music)."

Do tell. I confess Benedict XVI is looking better and better to me with each new revelation.