It was not only Germany’s Catholics who celebrated the election of conservative theologian Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as pope on April 20, 2005. For many Germans, the conclave’s choice of a German pope confirmed that Germany was finally being recognized and respected throughout the world on a religious level as well. After the decision was announced, the Bild-Zeitung, a wide-circulation tabloid, ecstatically exclaimed in its headline “We are Pope.” The header announced: "Our Joseph Ratzinger is Benedict XVI," and a front-page article called Ratzinger's election a "millennial sensation."