VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, who served for 20 years as John Paul II’s guardian of orthodox theology, was elected by his fellow cardinals Tuesday to become the 265th pope and head of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics.
After only about 24 hours of deliberations, white smoke began billowing from the stovepipe atop the roof of the Sistine Chapel, indicating that the 115 voting cardinals inside had chosen a pope from their number.
Ratzinger had less than an hour to change his red robes to the papal white and to let it sink in: He had ascended from the pope’s enforcer to the papacy itself before he was introduced to the crowd as Benedict XVI, his chosen name.
The doors to the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica opened at about 6:40 p.m. (12:40 p.m. New York time), and Chilean Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Est�vez, the senior cardinal deacon, stepped out, announcing Ratzinger’s name after a brief introduction in several languages. The new Pope Benedict XVI appeared moments later.
“Dear brothers and sisters,” he said in Italian, “after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me — a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord. The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.”
The rapid election of Ratzinger, 78, one of the most powerful and controversial men in the recent papal administration, resolves a power struggle that took place after John Paul’s death: Conservatives like the German cardinal, who was dean of the College of Cardinals, opposite a group of more liberal cardinals who wanted to decentralize power in the church and discuss changes to its strict rules. Ratzinger also headed John Paul’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a body that strictly enforced Catholic doctrine and punished those perceived as straying.
For a majority of the cardinals, the future of the church clearly lies in the hands of someone who is likely to stand up against modern social trends rather than adapt to them.
Many in St. Peter’s Square said the decision was ultimately made by God.
“My favorite is God’s choice,” said Jim Cortese, 62, of Loomis, Calif., speaking between the appearance of the white smoke and the announcement that Ratzinger is the new pope. After Est�vez revealed the secret all were desperate to know, Cortese was ecstatic.
“The church is sending a message right now,” said Cortese, a Catholic on vacation with his wife. “The church rejects modernism. The church does not conform to the world.”
In a homily Ratzinger gave Monday, before he and the other cardinals retired to the Sistine Chapel, Ratzinger made no secret of his hard-line beliefs.
“Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism,” he said, speaking in Italian. “Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along by every wind of teaching, looks like the only attitude acceptable to today’s standards.”
For some members of the crowd, Ratzinger was a profound disappointment.
As the announcement came, Brian Bennett, 49, began shaking his head. “I think this is a disaster,” said Bennett, a political consultant and writer from Long Beach, Calif., who grew up in Merrick and flew to Rome April 4 for John Paul’s funeral.
Bennett said he did not agree with some of John Paul’s conservative teachings but respected him for his peace-making efforts. Ratzinger is not who Bennett had in mind as a successor to John Paul, though.
“He reinforces the exclusion that has kept gay Catholics like me out of the church,” Bennett said. “Cardinal Ratzinger was the one who wrote the doctrine that says homosexuality is intrinsically evil. Do you really think that gays and lesbians will come back to the church now that he’s Benedict XVI? I just hope and pray that the Holy Spirit will open his heart.”
The reaction was mixed even from some Germans in the square.
“He’s a real conservative,” said Armin Moll of Mainz, Germany. “There are many questions that have to be answered about the role of women in the church and whether priests may marry. And I’m not sure he will do that. But we shall give him a chance.”
Many in the crowd complained about what they called the media’s representation of Ratzinger as an unforgiving ideologue and bully. Several priests said that perception of him bore no resemblance to the man they know personally.
“All many people see are the headlines, not what’s underneath,” said the Rev. David Barrett, 37, of Northampton, England. “He’s an extraordinarily warm and lovely and gentle man. He’s very intelligent, but he’s also a man of profound faith.”
By: MATTHEW MCALLESTER and CAROL EISENBERG, Staff Correspondents for Newsday
