LOL, sometimes you cannot make shit up this good:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe...day/index.html
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI is reported to have said he prayed to God during the conclave not to be elected pope but that "evidently this time He didn't listen to me."
Benedict made the comments, reported by The Associated Press, at an audience Monday with German pilgrims, who enthusiastically greeted the first German pope in centuries.
A smiling Benedict shook the pilgrims' hands and blessed a child given to him before taking his seat in the audience hall and starting his speech.
Speaking in his native German, Benedict told the audience that during the conclave, or papal election, when it became clear he was getting many votes, a cardinal passed him a note reminding him what he had preached about Christ calling Peter to follow him even if he was reluctant to go.
Benedict, 78, said he hoped to spend his last years living quietly and peacefully.
"At a certain point, I prayed to God 'please don't do this to me,"' he recalled. "Evidently, this time He didn't listen to me."
Benedict was elected pope on April 19 after four rounds of balloting in 24 hours, one of the fastest elections in a century. He had gone in as a leading candidate, but at 78 he was considered old to be named pope.
Benedict was interrupted several times by applause, and he seemed to enjoy the welcome from his fellow countrymen, smiling often.
"Benedict sent from God," the crowds chanted, according to AP. In German, the chant rhymes: "Benedict Gott Geschickt."
After calling for unity in his inauguration address, the pope made meeting leaders of other faiths who attended his installation his first public duty Monday.
Following the mid-morning ecumenical gathering at the Vatican, the new pope was to receive many of the estimated 100,000 Germans who journeyed to Rome to attend Sunday's Mass in St. Peter's Square, in which the first German in centuries was officially installed as pontiff.
