It’s not something one expects to read: “Pope to step down.” “Pope resigns.” Since it hasn’t happened in centuries, I guess it’s inevitably big news. “Pope prepares for a monk’s life” reads one headline, only partially satisfying speculation about what a retired pope might do with his time.

This will be the first papal election I’ve witnessed as a Catholic convert, and unlike eight years ago, I have some definite preferences for a new pope. Of course, it’s not up to me in any sense, so further speculation and wish-making seems fruitless. Whoever is Benedict XVI’s successor, he won’t be the last, and if history is any guide, it’s unlikely he’ll do much radically to change anything in the church. It’s odd: I find myself more in step with more traditional Catholics every day despite my agnostic, progressive past, but there’s one “progressive” change I’d like to see in the papacy: a non-European. Peter Kodwo Appiah Cardinal Turkson has been mentioned as a very possible successor, and I find myself thinking that there could be no better selection for a church that calls itself the Universal Church.