'I'm humble,' says world's new Pope.
Byline: By Lauren TaylorCardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, the Roman Catholic Church's leading hard-liner, was elected the new Pope yesterday.
He chose the name Pope Benedict XVI and called himself 'a simple, humble worker'.
The new Pope emerged on to the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, where he waved to a wildly cheering crowd of tens of thousands and gave his first blessing as pontiff. Other cardinals clad in their crimson robes came out on other balconies to watch him after one of the fastest papal conclaves of the past century.
Pilgrims chanted, 'Benedict! Benedict!', as the church's 265th pontiff appeared.
'Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me - a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord,' he said after being introduced by Chilean Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estivez.
Benedict XVI had served John Paul II since 1981 as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In that position, he has disciplined church dissidents and upheld church policy against attempts by liberals for reforms He turned 78 on Saturday. His age clearly was a factor among cardinals who favoured a 'transitional' pope who could skilfully lead the church as it absorbs John Paul II's legacy, rather than a younger cardinal who could wind up with another long pontificate.
The new Pope is the oldest pontiff to be elected in the past century and a half. He is a bit older than John XXIII, who was 77 when he was elected in 1958.
Other pontiffs were in their 60s - John Paul I was 66; Pius X and Leo XIII were both 68; and some were in their 50s, including John Paul II, who was 58, and Pius IX, who was 54.
Cardinals also faced a choice over whether to seek a younger dynamic pastor and communicator - perhaps from Latin America or elsewhere in the developing world where the church is growing.
Benedict XVI is the first Germanic pope in about 1,000 years. There were, at least, three German popes in the 11th century.
He decided to spend the night at the Vatican hotel, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, and to dine with the cardinals, said Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls. He was to preside over a Mass at 9am local time (8am UK time) today in the Sistine Chapel and will be formally installed on Sunday at 10am (9am UK time).
The new Pope had impressed many faithful with his stirring homily at the funeral of John Paul II, who died on April 2 aged 84.
His election was one of the fastest in the past century.
Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939 in three ballots on one day, while Pope John Paul I was elected in 1978 in four ballots in one day. The new Pope was elected after either four or five ballots over two days.
The timing of the smoke, one hour before the end of the afternoon session, indicated the pontiff may have been chosen on the fourth ballot But some have questioned the new Pope's stance towards the Nazis during his teenage years in Germany during the Second World War.
In his memoirs, the new Pope speaks openly of being enrolled in Hitler's Nazi youth movement against his will when he was 14 in 1941, when membership was compulsory. He says he was soon let out because of his studies for the priesthood. Two years later, he was drafted into an anti-aircraft unit as a helper, a common fate for teenage boys too young to be soldiers. Enrolled as a soldier at 18, in the last months of the war, he barely finished basic training.
'We are certain that he will continue on the path of reconciliation between Christians and Jews that John Paul II began,' said Paul Spiegel, head of Germany's main Jewish organisation.
After the bells started to ring, people on the streets of Rome immediately started heading from all directions toward Vatican City. Some priests and seminarians in clerical garb ran; nuns pulled up their long skirts and jogged toward the Vatican. Drivers were honking horns and some people were closing stores early and joining the crowds.
It was the first time two non-Italians in a row have been named pope since seven Frenchmen reigned from Avignon rather than Rome during what Italians called the papacy's 'Babylonian captivity' of 1305-1378
CAPTION(S):
The newly-elected Pope Joseph Ratzinger of Germany waves to the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican; Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger with Pope John Paul II
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| Publication: | The Birmingham Post (England) |
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| Date: | Apr 20, 2005 |
| Words: | 763 |
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