The Next Pope

Not being a Roman Catholic it really shouldn't matter much to me who the next Pope is, but I do have an opinion. The reason is because that over one billion people consider themselves Catholics and define their Christianity by what the Catholic Church says.
As a conservative Christian I would much prefer a conservative Pope. There are many things with which I disagree with the Roman Catholic Church, but I find myself in much more agreement with conservative Catholics than liberal Catholics. Liberal Catholics are about as Christian as Unitarians, which is to say, not much. Conservative Catholics, for all their Marianism and such, are much more close to orthodox Christianity than the Hans Kung crowd.
In looking ove the list that the touts are putting out I would much prefer Cardinal Ratzinger than any of the other front runners. Ratzinger is of the opinion that the RC Church is the one true church and that all Christians outrside the church are pretty much lost. I disagree with him on this. But he's not a man to fold his stand to prevailing Western standards.
The Christian world is under enough pressure from the world at large. For much of the world the Roman Catholic Church is the Christian world. If the next Pope is of the deep ecumenical crowd or a weak willy he will be showing Christianity (to the world) as a reed bending in the wind.
Times being what they are, showing a willingness to conform the faith to the times and the world is tantamount to showing that one's faith means nothing. Ratzinger is a strong man. In my reading of his works I believe that he is a Christian first and a Catholic second, The election of Ratzinger would result in family feuds within the faith, but feuding families pull together when there is an outside threat. Christians have more to worry from the outside at the moment and don't need a termite working from within.