Pope Benedict XVI was elected without debate between ?progressives? and ?conservatives?, a conclave insider revealed this week.
Cardinal Christoph Sch?nborn, Archbishop of Vienna, said Joseph Ratzinger was one of the last witnesses of the Second Vatican Council, where he stood out as as one of the most brilliant periti (theological experts) who had influenced many Council documents. He would ?continue the Council?s legacy?, Cardinal Sch?nborn emphasised, telling Austrian television on Tuesday that it had been a case of choosing the cardinal ?whom God had in mind?, and not a matter of which course the Church should take.
Burst of spontaneous applause
Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, said there had been ?no campaigning? and ?no propaganda? at the conclave, but that the election had nevertheless proved ?difficult?. As soon as it became clear that Cardinal Ratzinger had been elected with the two-thirds majority required, the cardinals reacted with a burst of spontaneous applause.
On the new Pope?s choice of name, Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Archbishop of Mechlin-Brussels, said ?He told us after the conclave that he chose Benedict XVI because firstly St Benedict is the patron of Europe; secondly Benedict XV served a short time and suffered; and thirdly Benedict XV was a pope of peace and reconciliation.?
In the German-speaking world Pope Benedict?s election has been welcomed and many have praised his brilliance as a theologian, as well as the sense of humour for which he is renowned in central Europe.
Two American cardinal-electors left the Vatican late on Tuesday night to deliver positive messages about the new Pope. Cardinal Edward Egan of New York said ?You have to be slow in making judgements. Sometimes it?s good to watch for a while and see if what you?ve heard is true.? Cardinal Francis Rigali of Philadelphia described the new Pope as ?very serene and very joyful?. In the United States itself, President George W. Bush, a fervent Methodist, led official tributes to the new Pope, calling him ?a man of great wisdom and knowledge?, and Bishop John Manz of Chicago called Benedict XVI a great theologian, saying ?I found him to be a gentle, almost grandfatherly man with a soft smile.?
However Thomas Groome, professor of theology at Boston College, said the new Pope would appeal mostly to the 5 per cent of American Catholics who are conservative and traditional. Many of the others, including those who advocate ordaining women, removing bans on contraception, and allowing married priests, would be dismayed. ?Some of us are bewildered by it, disappointed,? he said.
Paul Lakeland, a professor at the Jesuit Fairfield University in Connecticut, said ?It is telling [US Catholics] to expect no changes. It has to be disappointing to the Asians, Latin Americans and Africans. The cardinals are saying, your problems are on hold now.?
News of the papal election was received with disappointment by many in South America where it had been hoped that one of their own would be donning the papal robes. Latin Americans make up 45 per cent of the world?s Catholics, and many ordinary members of the Church believed a more progressive leader would take the helm to counter what they perceive as an institution which has become isolated from their social realities. However, the higher ranks of the Catholic clergy were guardedly supportive of the choice of the new Pope. Jorge Oesterheld, spokesman for the Argentine Church, said that the election marked ?a continuity? within the Catholic Church, adding ?We will have to wait and see what the Pope?s first steps are like.?
Hopes for work in the Lord?s vineyard
South America?s political leaders also gave guarded welcomes, with the Argentine President Kirchner simply saying ?I hope he will be a good Pope.? Chilean President Ricardo Lagos offered his ?best wishes? to the new leader, while Brazilian leader Lula Ignacio de Silva sent a congratulatory letter to Benedict XVI in which he expressed his hopes that the new Pope would promote peace and social justice. Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Norman Caldera said ?We send our congratulations and best wishes that his labour before the Catholic Church and work in the Lord?s vineyard bear fruit.?
In Africa, there was some disappointment that Cardinal Francis Arinze, the continent?s front-runner, had not been chosen. ?If our local son had got it, we would have been happy, but we will give our new Pope our total support,? said the traditional leader of Eziowelle, the home village in Nigeria of Cardinal Arinze. Kenya?s Archbishop Raphael Ndingi Mwanaa Nzeki of Nairobi felt that ?respect of life and the teaching of the Catholic Church are very essential, and we all know that the new Pope will uphold them?. Archbishop Simon Ntamwana of Gitega, Burundi, hoped the new Pope would ?fight against sin, which in Africa takes the form of injustice, lack of rights, poverty and exploitation by the powers?. Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe told The Tablet ?Our time will come with African and Latin American candidates coming up on the horizon.?
Need for period of calm
In the Middle East, Israel?s Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom, said he hoped Benedict XVI, who was brought up in an anti-Nazi family but was forced to join the Hitler Youth movement during the Second World War, would follow the path of his predecessor in campaigning against anti-Semitism and working for closer ties between Jews and Catholics.
Maronite Bishop Bechara Rai of Jbail, Lebanon, said Pope Benedict?s approval of an Arab catechism allowed the local Church to ?avoid some words and expressions? to show ?respect [for] the Arab sensibility. He is of the same thinking of John Paul II, especially for the traditional vision of the church and theology. I think his appointment is providential, because the Church needs to be in a period of calm.?
Elena Curti, Margaret Hebblethwaite, Robert Mickens, Rome; Michael Hirst; Michael Holland; Richard Major, New York; Seamus Mirodan, Buenos Aires; Christa Pongratz-Lippitt, Vienna; Ellen Teague