[AnAmericanMother]

I was at work, listening on the radio - I shouted out loud when the white smoke went up, and everybody crowded in my office (two Methodists, a Presbyterian, and a Reform Jew).

When the announcement got to "Josephus" . . . I said, "Dang, it's Ratzinger!" and everybody went "what?"

I assured them it was good news. :-D

[ottbmare]

I wasn't even a Catholic back then, just a Catholic groupie. But the Church already had my mind as Christ had my heart, so I was listening to the radio with bated breath. The announcement came during lunch. I remember bursting into the office and almost shrieking to my Catholic coworkers, "Habemus papem! It's Ratzinger!" Sadly, none of those cradle Catholics had been keeping tabs, and they weren't even familiar with Ratzinger. They thought I was nuts for being so involved with the election of a new pope when I wasn't even a Catholic.