Interesting Pick for Pope

I think many of us were hoping that the new Pope would be someone with a more progressive viewpoint on the world. (Not to bash J.P. - he did, after all, finally pardon Galileo - but there's still a ways for Catholicism to go, IMHO.) Unfortunately, the initial signs don't look all that great, since the London Times is reporting that the new pope is a former Hitler Youth.

Now, granted, there could easily be extenuating circumstances, not the least of which the fact that by definition, you're not thinking maturely if you joined the Hitler Youth, because you were still just a kid. But I can't help but think that growing up in the militant Nazi fold would leave a taint on a person. My hope is that he remembers his experiences as horrors, and channels those memories into a personal determination to thwart injustice and hatred everywhere (on par with Elie Wiesel - certainly moreso than J.P. did).

But in the wake of fiascos like The Passion of the Christ and a resurgence of global anti-semitism, you'd think the Catholic Church would have better sense than to elect someone with such a loaded past. At best, it's starting the new Pope off with an aura of distrust. At worst, it could permanently sever the little goodwill that is left between Catholicism and Judaism.