Pontiff Picked
(19th April 2005)
SMILING new Pope
Joseph Ratzinger greets
ecstatic crowds in Rome
after being elected by fel-
low cardinals yesterday.
The 78-year-old German —
forced into the Hitler Youth
as a boy - waved as 100,000
in St Peter's Square chorused: "Papa! Papa! Papa!"
There were also football-style
chants of "Ratzinger! Ratzinger!"
for the ex-World War II enemy
soldier who will be known as
Pope Benedict XVI. He emerged
on to the balcony of St Peter's Basilica with his
hands aloft and flanked by
red-hatted cardinals.
He won their vote on the
second day of the conclave
to find a successor to the
late John Paul II.
White smoke from the
chimney of the Vatican's
Sistine Chapel trumpeted
the election, although initially there was confusion.
For more than ten minutes it looked grey. Black
means no successful vote.
The pealing of St Peter's
bells just before 5pm (6pm
Italian time) ended the
uncertainty. Nuns raced to
join the throng — habits
flapping behind them.
The 265th pope told
Catholics: "The cardinals
have elected me — a simple, humble worker in the
Lord's vineyard."
The Queen and Tony
Blair last night sent their
best wishes.
Staunch conservative Ratzinger was born in the Bavarian village of Marktl-am-Inn, where last night an
oompah band played and
free beer flowed.
He was 14 when forced
to join the Hitler Youth. He
later manned a German
anti-aircraft battery —
before deserting.
Proud Line of Leaders
(19th April 2005)
Born into Roman nobilny
in 480, he lived as a mountain hermit before founding
the famous monastery at
Monte Cassino, Italy.
He founded 11 more while
surviving an assassination
attempt by blessing a
poisoned cup.
Benedict I, the 62nd Pope,
came to power in the year
575 but his
four-year
reign was
troubled by
war and
famine.
Benedict
was strangled by a
mob in 974.
The last
namesake,
Benedict XV, suggested a
Christmas truce during the
First World War in 1914 —
accepted by the Germans
but snubbed by the Allies.
In 1917 he called on all
nations to end "the futile
slaughter". He died in 1922.
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Born 1927 Holy Father
Biog. | John Paul II
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Benedit XV
THE new Pope takes his
name from St Benedict.
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Vatican appoints 'God's Rottweiler' 265th Pope
Biog. | Pope Benedict XVI
-
February 2013: Pope Benedict XVI is to stand down as leader of the Catholic church, he announced Feb. 11, 2013.
In a decision that has shocked even his closest aides, the 85-year-old Pontiff said his health was 'no longer adequate to continue in office due to his advanced age'.
He announced his resignation in Latin to a meeting of Vatican cardinals this morning, emphasising that leading more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide requires 'both strength of mind and body.'
The Pope's decision is unprecedented. He is the first to resign since Gregory XII in 1415, but no Pontiff in history has stepped down on health grounds.
Recommended Reading: Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times
--------------
- The white smoke came
much sooner than
expected, puffing gently
from the Sistine Chapel
into the early evening sky.
-
(19th April 2005)
Then, in confirmation, the bells of St Peter's Basilica began their joyous toll, their peals echoed by ecstatic cheers from the crowd below.
But still the identity of the new Papa, the world's most revered religious figure, remained a mystery.
Would it be the favourite, Nigerian Francis Arinze? Or Italian frontrunner Dionigi Tettamanzi?
Finally, after less than two days of deliberation, the waiting ended.
Chilean cardinal Jorge Arturo
Medina Estevez stepped on to the
St Peter's balcony to declare:
"Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum:
Habemus Papam" - Latin for "I
announce to you with great joy, we have a new Pope."
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger,
widely touted as the next
man to lead the world's
1.1 billion Roman Catholics,
became the 265th Pontiff.
The hard-liner has earned the nicknames "God's Rottweiler"
and "Panzercardinal" due to his
forthright, strictly orthodox views.
But the crowd chanted his name.
If this was a controversial selection, they kept their fears and reservations well hidden.
Instead the new Pope witnessed a great celebration.
A moment of unrestrained joy
much needed after the
curtain of grief which has
hung over the Vatican since
John Paul II's death on April 2.
Minutes after his selection,
the man now known as Benedict XVI appeared on
the balcony to greet the throng. With his face
wreathed in smiles, his hands outstretched, he got his first taste of
the adoration his predecessor had
come to know so well.
He was doubtless aware he has a
hard act to follow.
And he knew full well many may
judge him over his upbringing in
Nazi Germany, when he was briefly
conscripted into the Hitler Youth.
But his witness to those terrible
times went unspoken amid the joy.
Clad in papal vestments, the
German Pontiff, an intellectual
who speaks four languages, delivered his first blessing in Italian.
Translated into English, his words began:
"The cardinals have
elected me — a simple, humble
worker in the Lord's vineyard."
Though Benedict was always
a leading contender, his appointment
will nevertheless surprise those
who felt the Catholic church would
take a more liberal line in the
21st century.
In the 1980s he described homosexuality as an "intrinsic moral evil"
and said rock music could be a
"vehicle of anti-religion".
He has also criticised the introduction of the non-Latin Mass as a
"tragic breach".
A liberal he is not. And it is
feared the debate on contraception,
divorce and women in the church,
stifled by the previous Pontiff, will
fare no better under the new one.
Many expected a younger man to be
selected. But though the cardinals'
decision was swift, it was not rash.
Benedict is highly respected, has
been in the Vatican for more than
two decades and became one of John
Paul II's closest allies.
His other nicknames include "Vice
Pope" and "John Paul III".
Many see him as the man who will
be able to put the Catholic church
back on track during turbulent and
confusing times.
And he is the only cardinal to
have a fan club on the internet.
Benedict was born in Bavaria on
April 16 1927. Though the Ratzinger
family came from a traditional farming background, his father worked as
a policeman.
Young Joseph was just six when Hitler came to power. He was sheltered from the Nazi movement by
his father, who moved the family
several times in an attempt to escape
Hitler's tentacles.
When his father retired in 1937.
the family moved to Traunstein, a
staunchly Catholic Bavarian town.
Joseph joined the Hitler Youth in
1941, shortly after membership
became compulsory as World War II
raged. Two years later he was sent
to join an anti-aircraft unit.
The new Pontiff insists he never
fired a shot.
And in April 1944, after being sent
to Hungary, where he saw Jews
being herded to death camps, he deserted. His elder brother Georg,
who was ordained as a priest in
1951 at the same time as Joseph,
said that resistance to joining the
Hitler Youth movement was "truly
impossible".
And the Pope's supporters say that
his experiences under the Nazis
convinced him of the church's role
as the guardian of truth and
freedom.
Benedict, whose inauguration will
be on Sunday, rose through the
church's ranks to become Dean of
the College of Cardinals.
As such. he presided over John
Paul's funeral mass.
He is the oldest cardinal to be
named Pope since Clement XII,
who was also 78 when he stepped
up in 1730
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