The first notes of Jesus’ return to the Father in the ascension are being struck here: “Your hearts are troubled because I am leaving you. You trust in God; now trust also in me. I tell you there are many dwelling places in my Father’s house, and I am going there to prepare a place for you” (Jn 14: 1-2).

The Greek word used here is “mone.” “Dwelling places” is a clumsy translation of it. Another translation reads, “There are many mansions in my Father’s house.” That’s even worse. The last thing the original Greek has in mind is some million dollar home on Lake Drive. The commentaries tell us that the Greek word is better translated as “a place of rest.” “In my Father’s house there are many places of rest, and I am going to prepare one for you.”

It seems that Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) had that scriptural text in mind when, as Dean of the College of Cardinals and principal celebrant, he preached the homily at the funeral Mass of Pope John Paul II on the 8^th of April. With his silvery hair blowing in the wind, the German cardinal stood before the world’s political and spiritual leaders at the funeral and offered an eloquent, sensitive farewell that moved some to tears. He said, “None of us can ever forget how, on the last Easter Sunday of his life, the Holy Father, marked by suffering, came once more to the window of the apostolic palace and one last time gave his blessing. … We can be sure that our beloved pope is now standing at the window of the Father’s house (that place of rest), and that John Paul now sees and blesses us.”

The papal election

After the Mass, John Paul’s body was laid to rest in what was once the burial site of Good Pope John XXIII and, for a moment at least, the Eternal City paused to catch its breath. City workers cleaned up all the litter inevitably left by the river of humanity that flowed down the Via Conciliatione into St. Peter’s Square. Then Rome braced itself for another onslaught of humanity with the papal election. The conclave opened on Monday, the 18^th of April; and on the 19^th after the fourth balloting, white smoke finally bellowed from the makeshift chimney atop the Sistine Chapel to communicate that a pope had been elected. That wasn’t much of an improvement over the old days when Native Americans used to communicate with smoke signals from mountain tops.

The sure proof that a pope had, indeed, been chosen came when the humongous bell of St. Peter’s pealed out over the sea of humanity anxiously waiting in the square. Soon the heavy crimson drapery of the central loggia parted, and a cardinal appeared. “I announce to you tidings of great joy,” he said. “Habemus Papam. We have a Pope.” It was the German cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger, and he had taken the name of Benedict XVI.

His old job: Chief Enforcer

The reaction was one of absolute unbelief for those who thought it was too good to be true. For years a militant group dedicated to protecting “orthodox faith“ found a great champion in Cardinal Ratzinger. They sang his praises and even had an online fan club of his which offered souvenirs with the slogan, “Putting the smack down on heresy.”

But there was absolute unbelief also for those who felt their worst fears had materialized. In an e-mail, a member of this Sunday assembly writes, “I have been watching the papal coverage almost nonstop since John Paul II died. I feel like I have turned into a TV or papal junkie. I had such hope for something new. I was so excited today when I saw the first puff of white smoke and saw the bells begin to move, even before they rang. But when the name was announced, I stood there feeling every bit of excitement and hope just draining out of my body. I really thought it was going to be the Nigerian, Cardinal Arinze.”

What was all that great dismay about? Cardinal Ratzinger was appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1981 as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. That job made him chief enforcer in the Church. His task was to enforce orthodox teaching. His task was to force dissident theologians like Fathers Charles Curran of USA, Hans Kueng of Switzerland and Leonardo Boff of South America to comply with correct doctrine. With time Cardinal Ratzinger came to be called “Top Cop” and “Cardinal No”: no to divorce, no to birth control, no to homosexuality, no to women priests, no to married priests, and even no to rock and roll. He was also called by some the Grand Inquisitor for Pope John Paul II, and others called him God’s Rottwieiler and even Cardinal Ratz.

His background

The new Pope is two years younger than I. He was born on the 16^th of April, 1927, in a little town of Marktl am Inn in Bavaria,, a strongly Catholic section of Germany. Growing up in Nazi Germany, he experienced the Nazis’ distortion of truth—their lies about Jews, and about genetics and the Master Race. He experienced the pernicious Nazi lie that only the fair, the blond and the blue-eyed had a right to live. His country’s kiss of death with the Nazi experience profoundly repelled him. From that horrible experience Ratzinger concluded that the Church’s service to society is to stand for certain absolute truths which function as boundary markers. If you wander outside those boundaries, you invite disaster as enormous as the Holocaust.

What we are and who we are depends so much on what we have experienced. That’s a no-brainer. So it was perfectly normal and to be expected that in his homily delivered at the Mass before the opening of the conclave, Cardinal Ratzinger would warn his brother cardinals about the “dictatorship of relativism.” Relativism says that nothing is absolutely true. One day something can be true and the next day not true, depending on how you feel or what the circumstances are or what’s convenient or opportune. When Cardinal Ratzinger used the word “dictatorship” that day, he had in mind the Adolph Hitler of his own disastrous German homeland.

His new name

“I announce to you tiding of great joy: Habemus Papam. We have a Pope. He is Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and he will be called Pope Benedict XVI.” This highly intelligent man, who knows European history very well, immediately drew attention to Pope Benedict XV who sat on the chair of Peter from 1914 to 1922. That Pope had to reconcile Catholic countries which were on opposite sides in World War I. He declared his anti-war stance, and he repeatedly protested the use of weapons of mass destruction like poison gas. That angered both sides.

But the name chosen by the new pope draws our attention even farther back to St. Benedict. Born at the end of the 5^th century in Nursia, Italy, he became the father of Western Monasticism. The Benedictine Order, to which Archbishop Weakland belongs, is named after St. Benedict. The monasteries founded by St. Benedict (Monte Cassino in Italy is the most famous of them all) became the keepers of culture and faith in medieval Europe. So Pope Paul VI in 1964 declared St. Benedict “the patron saint and protector of Europe.” Many of us were expecting that the recent conclave would direct our attention to South America or to Africa. Our e-mailer was hoping the new pope would be the Nigerian Cardinal Arinze. Some now think that by choosing the name Benedict the new pope is turning his and our attention especially to Europe which has basically lost its faith and is in terrible need of re-evangelization.[1]

Benedict the man

The new Pope, however, is not first a pope; he is first and foremost a human being as you and I are, and he deserves a fair human description as we do. For years the media fed me and many others a fairly demonized description of the man, and we mindlessly went along with it. That’s why our hearts immediately sank in total disbelief when we heard, “Habemus Papam. He is Cardinal Ratzinger.”

But now we give pause; he deserves a fair description as any man does. To begin with, he is no dummy. He is a very intelligent man who speaks a number of languages fluently. He has written many books on theology, and they’re selling like hot cakes right now. Furthermore, he is recognized as being very honest. His plain-spoken comments outrage some, but all the Vaticanologists give him credit for having the courage to speak his convictions. That, they say, is a refreshing contrast from the ambiguous diplomatic language that abounds in that world.

What’s more, he is described as a holy and even saintly man with great inner resources. At times he has taken himself to Benedictine monasteries to replenish his spirit. Surprisingly some say he is timid, and an undersecretary said of him, “There is a certain childlike quality to him.” On the loggia in front of St. Peter’s the day of his election last Tuesday (19^th of April), he called himself a “simple humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.” He went on to say, “The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.” Those who know him well say that those words of his were absolutely sincere.

His new job: Chief Shepherd

As Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he was chief enforcer of the Universal Church. Now as Pope Benedict XVI he has a new job: he is chief shepherd of the Universal Church. Those of us who love dogs find a delightful omen in this historic event: we now have a German Shepherd as pope whose new job now calls him to protect not teachings but sheep. Our e-mailer expresses the hope that the new job will make a new man. She writes, “Maybe this is just the result of wishful thinking or unfounded optimism, but today I have listened to a lot of TV, and I am more willing to give Ratzinger a chance. Maybe the office will change him. People say he is a very kind and humble person.” The new US Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Rooney, is also optimistic. He is confident that just as Pope John Paul was a great communicator, so Benedict XVI will be a great listener.

Hans Kueng isn’t so optimistic. That Swiss theologian, whose license to teach theology was revoked by the Vatican in 1979, has already formed his judgment: “An enormous disappointment for all those who hoped for a reformist and pastoral pope.” But then he adds, “The name Benedict XVI leaves the possibility open for a more moderate policy. Let us, therefore, give him a chance. As with the president of the USA, we should allow a new pope 100 days to learn.”

A wish list for our new pope.

Catholics whose Church is important to them have a wish list for their new Pope. Some wish for a pope who will have the courage to change Catholic teachings which they sincerely find troubling. They want their new pope to address the Church’s unsolved issues, such as women’s ordination, mandatory priestly celibacy, homosexuality and birth control.

In an article written a few days before the election of Benedict XVI and published in Commonweal, entitled “My Hope for the Next Pope,” Richard Gaillardetz writes that his wish list for the new pope doesn’t focus so much on issues but rather on a papal vision. He writes that he hopes and prays that the next pope will discover that the Word of God is heard and discerned not only in Scripture, the liturgy, the fathers and doctors of the church, the sublime witness of the saints, but it is heard and discerned also in the holy conversation of the baptized followers of Jesus. “The new pope must not forget, as Cardinal Leon-Joseph Suenens once remarked, that the most important day of his life was not that of his papal election but that of his baptism. Therein he will recall the dignity and wisdom of all the baptized.”

Then listen to this unbelievable aside which Gaillardetz wrote days before there was any Pope Benedict XVI. “May the next pope recall the surprising counsel of St. Benedict of Nursia, who advised the abbot to seek out the voice of the least in the community. “ That is, indeed, a remarkable prophetic aside: St. Benedict of Nursia born in 480 A. D. tells Cardinal Ratzinger of 2005 (who now chooses Benedict as his new papal name) that he must “seek out the voice of the least in the community.”

Gaillardetz continues his wish list for the new pontiff. “May the new pope resist the temptation to control or direct that holy conversation toward predetermined conclusions. “ And then his parting remark: “This is no liberal fantasy for a democratic church, but rather a quite traditional longing for a genuine community of discernment (holy conversation). It is a longing for a church that raises up leaders who recognize that leading and listening don’t mutually exclude each other.”

Conclusion

A new man at the window

Well, Pope Benedict XVI will come to the window of the papal palace to give his blessing on the Sunday crowds below, just as Pope John Paul II did before him, and just as Pope John XXIII did before him. We are going to have to get used to a new man up there. It’s wrong to expect him to fill someone else’s boots or to be someone he is not. He is too intelligent and too honest even to attempt that.

It is right, though, to try to understand what experiences have made him to be who he is, and to view what he says and does in the light of that experience. It is also right to give the man a chance, at least in the first 100 days. It is right, too, to hope that Pope Benedict XVI will surprise us, just as Pope John XXIII surprised us. It’s right, indeed, to hope and pray that he will be a good German Shepherd who will protect all the sheep. And to hope and pray that his house, like the house of the Father in heaven, will have many resting places for all God’s weary pilgrim people.

[1] The choice of the name Benedict is also significant. The pope had his birthday on the 16^th of April and on that day is celebrated the feast of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre` (26 March 1748 - 16 April 1783), also known as the Holy Pilgrim. With his baptismal name being Joseph and his assumed papal name being Benedict the Pope’s Christian namesake is now complete.