[Although Mbeki made positive sounding noises about the new Pope, South African radio and TV bulletins have been very negative. He is described here as the “Panzer Pope” – and as being very conservative, etc. Personally, I love anything that irritates the left… Of course, one must be careful… President De Klerk was originally described to us as a “hard core” “right winger”, when in fact he was the complete opposite. But if this German Pope is the hard-case he is cracked up to be (who even said communion should be refused to John Kerry), then I am very hopeful. He seems to be a Germanic “organiser”, and appears to want efficiency… and that will be interesting… I don’t know if Black Africans will like that.

Bishop Desmond Tutu, who I believe is really an Anglican, was saying he wanted a Black Nigerian Pope… was disappointed by the results.

So here’s hoping that some Conservatism won ground in the Roman Catholic Church. If so… then the Left will be very unhappy… and that, frankly, makes my day!! Jan]

The world’s 1,1-billion Roman Catholics were presented with a hardline conservative as their new Pope on Tuesday night when the German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican’s enforcer of orthodoxy, was elected after one of the briefest conclaves in modern times.

The new Pope, who was 78 last Saturday, is taking the pontifical title of Benedict XVI. He succeeds Pope John Paul II, who died 17 days ago at the age of 84, following one of the longest and most dynamic pontificates in the church’s history. The new Pope will celebrate his first mass in St Peter’s as pontiff next Sunday.

On Tuesday night, he appeared on the balcony at St Peter’s basilica in the Vatican in front of an ecstatic crowd to declare: “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.”

In reality the new Pope, elected seemingly on the fourth ballot of the conclave, is the ultimate Vatican insider, John Paul II’s righthand man, and the man who for the last 24 years was the defender and promoter of an increasingly unbending orthodoxy. One of his nicknames was God’s Rottweiler.

It will be his job to reinvigorate the faith in the developed world, where many Catholics have slipped away in dismay in recent years, tackle the church’s many problems and foster its expansion in the developing world.

On Tuesday night, the election was welcomed by world political leaders and senior members of other faiths.

The German Chancellor, Gerhard Schre(182)¶der, said Benedict XVl’s election was “a great honour for our whole country … a Pope who knows the world church like no one else.”

United States President George Bush called the new Pope “a man of great wisdom and knowledge”.

In Britain, the Queen sent good wishes to Rome while British Prime Minister Tony Blair looked forward to working with him on aiding Africa and encouraging economic development.

South Africa’s President, Thabo Mbeki, said: “Pope Benedict XVI assumes leadership at a critical time in which the world’s collective wisdom and leadership, including that of the religious community, is most important to face up to challenges of deepening poverty and under-development afflicting many people of the world.”

The conservative Roman Catholic group Opus Dei pledged support for the new pontiff, saying: “This is a time of great joy.”

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, offered the Pope every blessing in the immense responsibilities he was about to assume and praised him as a theologian of great stature.

In a United Nations statement the Secretary General, Kofi Annan, said the Pope brought a wealth of experience to his office. “The United Nations and the Holy See share a strong commitment to peace, social justice, human dignity, religious freedom and mutual respect among the world’s religions.”

Israel voiced hope that as a German, he would be especially committed to fighting anti-semitism. He is the first German to be elected Pope since the Middle Ages and it is the first time cardinals have elected two successive non-Italians since the 14th century.

Benedict XVI, 20 years older than his predecessor when he was elected in 1978, becomes the 265th pope, traced in a line of succession since St Peter.

He was formerly Archbishop of Munich before being chosen by John Paul II for service in the Vatican in 1981. He served briefly and unwillingly as a 14-year-old member of the Hitler Youth in his native Bavaria and then in the German army as a teenager in an anti-aircraft battery towards the end of World War II. He deserted in 1944.

Observers assumed that the Pope’s candidacy had been championed by the cardinals who have served with him in the Vatican and had won over the leaders of the church in the developing world.

Although the new Pope is in good health, his elder brother Georg (81) was quick to point out the possible problem of his age. “At age 78 it’s not good to take on such a job which challenges the entire person and the physical and mental existence,” he said. “It’s no longer guaranteed that one is able to work and get up the next day.”

Cardinal Ratzinger had presented an unequivocal manifesto to the cardinals in preaching a sermon to them at mass before the conclave on Monday, warning against the moral relativism of modern secular life and urging them to withstand the “tides of trends and latest novelties … from Marxism to free market liberalism to even libertarianism, from collectivism to radical individualism, from atheism to a vague religious mysticism … and so forth.” – Guardian Unlimited (194)Â Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

Source: Daily Mail & Guardian
URL: http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articlei…/p>