Hi Guest!
Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
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smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
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As I understand it, Cardinal Ratzinger was not the Cardinals' first choice. That was, interestingly, Cardinal Hans Grapje.
Grapje was raised in a Catholic school in The Hague and, as a young man, aspired to become a priest, but was drafted into the Army during WWII and managed to escape to England, where he joined the RAF and spent two years co-piloting bombers until his aircraft was shot down in 1943 and he lost his left arm. Pilot Officer Grapje spent the rest of the war as a chaplain, giving spiritual aid to soldiers, both Allied and enemy.
After the war, he became a priest, serving as a missionary in Africa, piloting his own plane (in spite of his handicap) to villages across the continent.
In 1977, Father Grapje was serving in Zimbabwe when an
explosion in a silver mine caused a cave in. Grapje went down into the mine to administer last rights to those too severely injured, despite the obvious danger. Another collapse occurred, and he was buried for three days, suffering multiple injuries, including the loss of his right eye. The high silver content in the mine's air gave him purpura, a life-long condition characterized by purplish skin blotches.
Although Cardinal Grapje devoted his life to the
service of God as a scholar, mentor, and holy man,
church leaders felt that he should never ascend to the Papacy.
They felt that the Church would never accept a one eyed, one armed, flying purple Papal leader.
Grapje was raised in a Catholic school in The Hague and, as a young man, aspired to become a priest, but was drafted into the Army during WWII and managed to escape to England, where he joined the RAF and spent two years co-piloting bombers until his aircraft was shot down in 1943 and he lost his left arm. Pilot Officer Grapje spent the rest of the war as a chaplain, giving spiritual aid to soldiers, both Allied and enemy.
After the war, he became a priest, serving as a missionary in Africa, piloting his own plane (in spite of his handicap) to villages across the continent.
In 1977, Father Grapje was serving in Zimbabwe when an
explosion in a silver mine caused a cave in. Grapje went down into the mine to administer last rights to those too severely injured, despite the obvious danger. Another collapse occurred, and he was buried for three days, suffering multiple injuries, including the loss of his right eye. The high silver content in the mine's air gave him purpura, a life-long condition characterized by purplish skin blotches.
Although Cardinal Grapje devoted his life to the
service of God as a scholar, mentor, and holy man,
church leaders felt that he should never ascend to the Papacy.
They felt that the Church would never accept a one eyed, one armed, flying purple Papal leader.
