Habemus Papam! Benedictus Sextus Decimus

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, dean of the College of Cardinals and former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has been elected pope, taking the name Benedict XVI, apparently to the chagrin of Reuters:

German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the strict defender of Catholic orthodoxy for the past 23 years, was elected Pope on Tuesday despite a widespread assumption he was too old and divisive to win election.

But what the hell do they know? Following his election, the Holy Father blessed the crowd assembled in St. Peter's Square, and appealed for the faithful to pray for their new leader:

"Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me – a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord," he said after being introduced by Chilean Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estivez.

"The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers," the new pope said. "I entrust myself to your prayers."

He's got my prayers.