Cardinal Ratzinger is an extraordinary man, and on top of everything else he is a genuinely creative theologian. His early work, "Christian Brotherhood," is worth reading whether or not you are a Catholic, and he has also done some ground-breaking work on ecclesiology.
But there's not a chance in the world that he will be the next pope. Let's just hope they find someone with similar potential. Many pressing issues remain to be dealt with, and non-Catholics as well as Catholics will be effected by the choice that is made.
God bless Cardinal Ratzinger.