The conservative German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected the new pope of the Catholic Church succeeding Pope John Paul the second. Taking the name Pope Benedict the Sixteenth, Ratzinger becomes the leader of one billion Catholics around the world. At the Vatican, the College of Cardinals signaled they had selected a new pope shortly before 6 p.m. local time on Tuesday. That’s when white smoke began bellowing out of the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel. Bells soon began to ring. St. Peter’s Square quickly filled with pilgrims. And 30 minutes later Ratzinger was introduced to the world. The new pope described himself in his remarks as a “simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”