They're calling this new pope a "transition pope". The Catholic Church does not know what kind of role they want to "play" and what road they want the Catholic Church to persue. Will they accept women as priests? Will they accept the birth control pill? Will they let priests marry? They don't know. So what they did was elect this "transitional" pope. Chances are, he won't have as long a run as Pope John Paul the Second. So they can decide how they want to run the Catholic Chruch and when the time comes to elect another pope, they'll elect someone to lead them down this "new" road. Personally, I was rooting for the African Cardinal to be pope.

Eight years of Catholic School here. Though, I don't practice the religon anymore, it's still ingrained in me.