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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 April 2006
On April 19, 2005, after just four rounds of voting, the College ofCardinals announced that 78-year-old Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger hadbeen selected as the new pope. This announcement startled many. Tobe sure, as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of theFaith for nearly a quarter of a century Ratzinger had helped selectthe vast majority of the cardinals who gathered to choose asuccessor to John Paul II, so his selection as pope could be seen asfulfillment of a simple quid pro quo. Even so, ithad been widely speculated that Ratzinger's conservative beliefswould spark passionate opposition among the electors and that hisage and reputed poor health would also work against him (Novak 2005).