Sistine Chapel and cardinals soon indicated they agreed to name Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the 265th Pope. Tens of thousands of people greeted the controversial cardinal, who will now be known as Pope Benedict XVI.
It came as a disappointed for Polish and some other Catholics who had hoped the new pontiff would name himself Pope John Paul III, to show continuity of his Polish born predecessor who introduced his Church to the new media age and became known as the Great Communicator.
However as he spoke later on Wednesday, April 20, Pope Benedict XVI made clear that like the late John Paul he wanted to work to unify all Christians, reach out to other religions and continue implementing reforms from the Second Vatican Council.
Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, listed top priorities of his papacy in a message read in Latin to cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel for the first Mass celebrated by the 265th leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
"PRIMARY TASK"
He stressed his "primary task" would be to work to reunify all Christians and that sentiment alone was not enough. "Concrete acts that enter souls and move consciences are needed," he added.
Vatican watchers said the message was designed to show that he intent on following many of the groundbreaking paths charted by John Paul, who they claim tried to heal the 1,000-year-old tensions within different churches.
However he inherits difficult issues, including priest sex-abuse scandals that have cost the church millions of dollars in settlements in the United States and elsewhere, chronic shortages of priests and nuns in the West, and calls for easing the ban on condoms to help fight the spread of AIDS.
CATHOLIC CRITICS
Critics say Pope Benedict XVI may be unable to reach out to all Catholics especially as he is known as an arch conservative.
The Associated Press news agency reported that the new pontiff has already denounced rock music, dismissed anyone who had tried to find "feminist" meanings in the Bible, and last year told American bishops it was appropriate to deny Communion to those who support abortion and euthanasia. Yet pro-life opinions have been welcomed by more traditional Catholics and within evangelical churches.
(With BosNewsLife Research, Stefan J. Bos and reports from Vatican City).
