I thought he was chosen as a place holder, but that is clearly not the case. And he seems entirely without a secondary agenda. I hope I am not wrong.

The test will be if he means beyond the symbolic to the substantive.

He seem energetic and engaged beyond what I expected. He also seems completely unafraid of challenging the status quo.

He is a true Jesuit.

The Gerald Ford of Vatican Politics!

I wonder if they had any idea that he would head in this direction.

I'm not clued in to Vatican politics, though, so I don't know what that might mean...is he "like" Benedict, or was he the very different competition?

Time will tell, in any event. He's off to a decent start. Wish he'd have a better platform on the equality issue, but perhaps he'll change with time. Others have.

Apparently one of them went rogue and wrote a book about the last process (under an assumed name).

He seems very different than Benedict to me.

Hard to tell what his personal opinion may be about equality, but I think it's an area where it is too early for him to tread that far outside the lines.

Like you said, we shall see.