A Pope of surprises and of ironies

The ever-astute John L. Allen, Jr. wrote a piece last week reflecting on the seventh anniversary of the election of Pope Benedict XVI to the See of Peter.  He said, in part,

Yet if we take the last seven years into view, not just the last week, the picture changes considerably. Quite often, the most intriguing feature of this papacy isn't how Benedict has confirmed expectations, but rather how he's confounded them. Indeed, if John Paul II was a "pope of firsts" and a "pope of surprises," Benedict XVI may well go down as a "pope of ironies."

I suspect Allen may well be correct in this assessment.  Be sure to read his piece in which he offers eight examples of what he means.