Conservative to some, 'unknown quantity' to others

A day after Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became the new head of the Roman Catholic Church, most observers agreed with the conservative label attached to Pope Benedict XVI while others believe he is an "unknown quantity".

One of the latter analysts was international relations lecturer Roderick Pace, who said the election of most Popes in modern times has been followed by surprises.

"What speculators said about them in the early days of their pontificate was normally overturned in the years which followed. Sadly there were also unpleasant surprises like the untimely demise of John Paul I," Dr Pace said.

"I believe Pope Benedict XVI is an unknown quantity. We think we know a lot about him because we knew Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. But there again the media had a way of colouring his image the way it wanted," he noted.

Dr Pace said there was certainly a message in the name he has chosen, Benedict XVI, and that message would unfold in the later stages of his papacy.

"I do not expect radical changes. They do not happen in the Church. But then some radical steps in the Catholic Church were often led by Popes who were initially judged to be too conservative to rock the boat.

"And how does conservatism and change really interface in the Church? Take John Paul II: initially an unknown quantity, he turned out to be a man that did not budge on the Church's fundamentals. Yet, he radically changed the role of the Papacy by travelling to the four corners of the earth preaching peace and human dignity.

"He managed to do the impossible by praying in a mosque and in a synagogue.

He catalysed change everywhere simply by preaching the basic values of human dignity. How more radical than that can you get?"

Asked what he thought of Cardinal Ratzinger's expressed stand against Turkey's accession to the European Union, Dr Pace said Pope Benedict XVI had been bold enough "to state what he thought when most were inclined to be politically correct and avoid thorny religious and human rights issues that Turkey's membership application raises for the EU.

"I disagreed with his thinking on this matter and still do. But knowing that such criticism of Turkey comes from such a learned man is not easy to shrug off. I do not think that as Pope he will return to the subject of Turkey's membership with the abrasive straightforwardness of when he was still Cardinal Ratzinger.

"But you never know. I hedge my answer by what I started off with in the first place: we think we know a lot about Benedict XVI but we simply don't," Dr Pace said.

German Ambassador Georg Merten said Germany was very proud that a German Pope had been elected after almost 500 years.

"What the new Pope will mean for the Church is still to be seen. It is a bit too early to say. However, Benedict XVI said he will follow the path of his predecessor, who was very popular. So we hope the new Pope will become as popular," Mr Merten said.

"We know he is a conservative-thinking man and many people, especially in Germany, are more progressive. This is why there is a bit of a clash on what the Pope will do during his reign. But we are looking forward to meet him in summer during the youths' meeting in Cologne," the German ambassador said.

Asked what he thinks the new Pope will mean to the world, the ambassador said every Pope has to deal with all existent differences among people. "If he follows the path of John Paul II, I think he will be on the right track," he said.

The Catholic Action Youth Movement (ZAK) and Studenti Demokristjani Maltin (SDM) welcomed the new Pope, auguring the Church would continue opening up to the whole world.

Freelance journalist Sandro Mangion, who forms part of the Malta Gay Rights Movement, said the new Pope would "undoubtedly go on striving to bring justice throughout the world the Catholic way, but he will most probably follow in his predecessor's footsteps and fail to bring justice within the Church itself".

"Ratzinger will perpetuate John Paul II's policy of treating groups such as the female and homosexual members of the Church and theologians who do not fully subscribe to the Vatican's point of view, as outcasts in their own religion," he said.

Mr Mangion said Cardinal Ratzinger was the driving force behind the hostile language Pope John Paul II has levelled at gays and lesbians, including their association with an "ideology of evil".

"He was also the man behind the Vatican's silencing of liberation theologians in South America," Mr Mangion said.

Mr Mangion said Pope Benedict XVI, formerly known as the iron-fisted chief guardian of Catholic doctrine, the modern inquisitor and nicknamed "God's Rottweiler" and "the Panzer cardinal" , would "probably continue transforming the Church of Rome into a dogmatic fortress, prohibiting genuine dialogue within it and muzzling those who do not fall in line with the official dictum".

Mark Montebello OP said Cardinal Ratzinger's appointment was "shocking", considering the positions he held and the number of times he had taken a stand against bishops in America and Latin America, Muslims and other Christian denominations.

"I cannot fathom how he will be able to reconcile these issues," Fr Montebello said.

He added that if there had been a rift between progressives and conservatives in the Church, that rift had become an "abyss".

However different than John Paul II his successor may be perceived to be, it was widely acknowledged that the former Pontiff and Cardinal Ratzinger worked closely together.

"What we do not know is who of Karol Wojtyla and Joseph Ratzinger was the horse and who was the cart. If the former Pope was the horse, then there is hope. If Wojtyla was the cart, now the horse is unleashed," Fr Montebello argued.

By his account, even conservatives who spoke in favour of Pope Benedict XVI did so in an apologetic tone after his election on Tuesday evening, adding that many people had been "astounded" by the appointment.