" ...when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last!
VOA: special.2010.04.16
Benedict is the leader of more than 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide and guides an organization that is 2, 000 years old.
In southern Europe, says Marco Ventura, a religious-law professor at the University of Siena, Catholics are now more worried about the perceived advance of Islam than about maintaining old entitlements for their faith.
"As Roman Catholics worldwide prepare for the conclave, we are reminded that the current system remains an 'old boys club' and does not allow for women's voices to participate in the decision of the next leader of our church, " said Erin Saiz Hanna, head of the Women's Ordination Conference, a group that ordains women in defiance of church teaching.