The white smoke, the sound of bells, the raising of the purple curtain. The world held its breath while the cardinals of the Catholic Church elected the new representative of Christ on earth. This ritual was a far cry from the secular circus acts that have otherwise been dominating the headlines of late.

It was one of the fastest elections of a pope in history. Apparently the man they chose to be the new pope was someone they could all agree on in the shortest time possible: Joseph Ratzinger. A German. The son of a Bavarian police officer. The world church didn't hesitate a moment, confidently ignoring the warnings of German bishops, as well as those of the usual official critics of the church.

The new pope has been a little more modest in this regard.

He made his first appearance as pope in St. Peter's Square, beaming at the crowd in this wonderful setting that embraces the Bellini colonnades, against the splendid architecture that's formed the backdrop for the emergence of a Catholic renaissance in recent weeks.

Ratzinger, standing at the top of the steps, just beneath the papal emblem, didn't say that he was all-knowing. In fact, what he said was exactly the opposite. He told the crowd: I am a simple laborer in God's vineyard. He said that he felt comforted by the thought that the Lord knows how to work with unfinished tools. And then he mentioned the holy mother of God.

Joseph Ratzinger is considered a modest man with solid principles. His principles have been an annoyance for many, especially those who view strict adherence to principles as an old-fashioned obstacle, and who for this reason have called him God's Rottweiler.

The holy spirit has certainly made a point of recruiting the pope from among those who need him the most: the Germans. After, the drama of modernity had its roots in Germany, and the Germans are the ones who have taken it to its greatest lengths.

In Germany, the people who are most vocal in discussing faith in public are those who have long since turned their backs on religion. German talk show hosts would just love to see this old-fashioned bastion of prayer, culture and tradition -- which they, after all, have left -- trivialized and modernized as much as possible, perhaps in a desperate attempt to dispel the underlying sense of melancholy they feel because they're no longer part of it all.

They'd like to see it become as trivial as the corner supermarket, a place where anyone can wander aimlessly without being disturbed. They'd like to see it sink to their own level of triviality. And that's why their favorite topics -- whenever the subject turns to faith -- are female priests, condoms and holy communion for everyone. But they're not especially interested in talking about such basic religious issues as the Ten Commandments, going to church on Sundays, sins and confession, the rosary -- and when they do, it's only as objects of scorn and ridicule. And they even want us to withhold judgment over the things they offer instead. In his sermon at the beginning of the conclave, Joseph Ratzinger spoke out against the relativism of modernity, almost as if he were issuing his first statement of policy as a head of state.

This pope played a decisive role in formulating his great predecessor's combative social encyclicals. He did the former pope's groundwork, and he served the former pope. And he can be expected to carry on John Paul II's legacy for the good of the world church.

Germans can now hope that this pope will provide them with the same kind of encouragement and hope that Karol Wojtyla once gave the Poles.

This pope, whose rivals didn't hesitate to point out, just in time for the conclave, that he was once a member of the Hitler Youth, underwent a cosmopolitan transformation in the 1970s, rising to become one of the Church's most prominent theologians. This pope is something of an apotheosis of the biography of a German.