Lawrence Catholics today celebrated the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church; Ratzinger took the name Pope Benedict XVI.

The newly elected pope, Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, who took the name Pope Benedict XVI, waves to the crowd from the central balcony at St. Peter's Basilica today in Vatican City.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said The Rev. Mick Mulvany of the 1,100-family Corpus Christi Catholic Church. “It’s just a good exciting time for the church.”

Ratzinger elected as new pontiff

Benedict, 78, is known as a conservative who was close, both personally and theologically, to Pope John Paul II.

“I don’t know that (Benedict’s selection) is a surprise to a lot of people,” Mulvany said. “He’s been at the forefront of our church and theology for some time.”

Mulvany said his church would be decorated in the Vatican colors at 1:30 p.m. today, to celebrate Benedict’s election.

For more on this story, see the 6News reports at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sunflower Broadband’s channel 6 and pick up a copy of Wednesday’s Journal-World.