Europe will be high on the new Popeís agenda
-20/04/05
Though both his mandate and the expectations that surround him are global, the future of Europe and its role in a changing world will be a significant priority for new Pope Benedict XVI, Vatican watchers told Ekklesia this morning.
The newly-elected pontiff, leader of one billion Roman Catholics across the globe, has already spoken privately with leading Cardinals to tell them that combating secularisation and winning support for an ëethic of lifeí across Europe is vital to the future of humanity and the Church.
The Pope is the first German to become head of the Holy See since Victor II, bishop of Eichstatt, who reigned from 1055-57.
At 78 the former Cardinal Ratzinger was claimed by many to be too old for the job. But the leading Christian think-tank Ekklesia and other observers predicted towards the end of last year that he was a leading candidate.
The new Popeís European origins, as well as his key role in Vatican politics and his closeness to his predecessor, are seen as major elements in his appointment by the College of Cardinals ñ of which he was formerly Dean, as well as head of the doctrinal watch-dog, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The former Cardinal Josef Ratzinger has chosen his title, Benedict, carefully ñ after the patron saint of Europe, and after what one commentator described to Ekklesia as ìthe healing Popeî who succeeded the sharply anti-modernist Pius X in 1914, the end of the First World War.
ìIt would be naÔve to read too much into a name,î a Vatican watcher said today. ìBut neither are such things incidental. Pope Benedict XVI knows his reputation, and although he is a man of passionate conservative convictions on many levels, he is also acutely intelligent and will wish strongly to avoid further division in the ranks of the global church.î
Pope Bendedictís age is significant, in that it marks him out as a transitional figure following the long reign of John Paul II. However ëtransitional figuresí are not necessarily insignificant, say observers.
Pope John XXIII, who pioneered the epoch-making Second Vatican Council, 1963-1965, which ushered the Catholic Church into the modern world, was seen by some as lacking imagination and even as a stopgap when he was elected.
Pope Benedict has already spoken out strongly on European matters, unsuccessfully backing a specific mention for God in the nascent European Constitution, which is now in danger of being sidelined by a series of referenda.
He has lived through some of the continentís greatest traumas. Brought up in an anti-Nazi household, he was pushed against his will into joining the Hitler youth, but has since been declared as having ìatonedî for this compromise by spokespersons for some leading Jewish organizations.
Benedict has also identified with his predecessorís peace witness, presiding at the Good Friday celebration of the Passion last year when Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher, spoke on the foundational nature of Jesusí non-violence.
In November 2004, as Cardinal Ratzinger, the new Pope hit out at secularism as anti-God and against the wider interests of humanity.
ìSecularism is no longer neutral,î the then Cardinal said in an interview at the time with the influential Italian daily La Repubblica. ìIt is beginning to transform itself into an ideology that imposes itself through politics and does not leave any room for the Catholic and Christian vision.î
ìPope Benedict XVI is a Christian leader whose own vision and thought is firmly rooted in the Christendom era,î said Ekklesia adviser Simon Barrow.
ìBut what the Church and its partners across the world needs now is a shift away from imposed authority based on a concordat with state power,î he added. ìInstead it has a chance to rediscover and re-apply the liberating energy of its origins in the subversive movement of Jesus, whose authority was based on the impact of divine love rather than upon acquired worldly status.î
Ekklesia, identified as one of the 20 leading think tanks in Britain, will unveil its own ideas about the church in the twenty-first century later next week.