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Abstract Chosen to succeed to John Paul II in spring 2005, Joseph Ratzinger is sometimes presented as a mere transition Pope after the extremely significant pontificate of Karol Wojtyla. Certainly, the geopolitical reading of the two first years of Benedict XVI at the head of the Catholic Church shows that the new Supreme Pontiff has followed some lines that had already been drawn by John Paul II. On that point Benedict XVI is truly the follow-up to his predecessor. Nevertheless, the German Pope is also putting his personal mark on Vatican geopolitics. Indeed, if Joseph Ratzinger keeps working on the scale of the universal Church, his apostolic and theological mission will be targeted first on a very specific continent: Europe.