Will new pope make difference to area Catholics?

This will probably get me in hot water after Sunday Mass.
But with all respect to my fellow area Catholics who expressed shock and sadness at last Monday’s sudden resignation of Pope Benedict XVI for health reasons, I’m not among them.
Nor do I share the sentiments of the area’s Catholic clergy.
Some were thankful for what the pope did for us.
Others expressed gratitude for the pope’s “remarkable” ministry.
For what?
That he’s the first pope to resign in almost 600 years perhaps.
The only thing I’d be thankful for in this time of transition for the Catholic church would be that the next pope be someone who corrects the Vatican’s autocratic drift under Benedict and predecessor John Paul II.

Read more Sunday in Mannix About Manatee on Bradenton.com.