From The New York Times:

Cardinals Choose a Close Aide to John Paul II to Lead Church
By IAN FISHER
and LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: April 19, 2005

VATICAN CITY, April 19 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope today, taking the name Benedict XVI, then telling a wildly cheering crowd from a balcony on St. Peter's Basilica, "I entrust myself to your prayers."


The 265th leader of the Roman Catholic Church, smiling broadly, was introduced by Cardinal Medina Estevez of Chile, who emerged from behind huge velvet drapes to announce, "We have a new pope!"


His selection came in the evening of the second day of the conclave of cardinals in the Sistine Chapel. Bells rang out over St. Peter's Square and white smoke drifted from a Sistine Chapel chimney signaling that the ballot had been decided.


The new pope, who was born in Marktl am Inn, Germany, and turned 78 on Saturday, was one of the closest collaborators of John Paul II. As the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he has been the church's doctrinal watchdog since 1981.


He has been described as a conservative, intellectual clone of the late pontiff, and, as the dean of the College of Cardinals, he was widely respected for his uncompromising - if ultraconservative - principles and his ability to be critical.


As cardinal, he had shut the door on any discussion on several issues, including the ordination of women, celibacy of priests and homosexuality, defending his positions by invoking theological truth. In the name of orthodoxy, he is in favor of a smaller church, but one that is more ideologically pure.


On Monday, at a Mass before the conclave convened, he delivered an uncompromising warning against any deviation from traditional Catholic teaching.


In private, he is known as a thoughtful thinker and shy, if not aloof. He is also an accomplished pianist, favoring Beethoven.


The new pope had had a high profile over the past month, presiding over several public services, from the Good Friday Via Crucis, where he spoke unusually harshly about the ills of the modern church, to John Paul's funeral.


Today, the white smoke and the deeply resonating ringing bells were signals that thousands of people in St. Peter's Square had been waiting for. Long streams of Romans hurried to the square and horns blared as people rushed to learn who was selected. People cheered and clapped at the signs that the Vatican had said would indicate that the new pope had been chosen.


There was a lag of several minutes between the appearance of a first wisp of smoke curling up from the chimney and the ringing of the bells, adding to the uncertainty that many people waiting in the square had endured this morning, and after the cardinals started their conclave on Monday afternoon, when there were questions about the smoke's color.


But several minutes after the first wisps appeared this afternoon, the bells started to toll, swinging heavily back and forth. The crowd raised their hands, cheered and clapped.


Earlier, black smoke rose from the chapel, telling the crowd on the square that cardinals locked inside had taken two more votes and not yet chosen a successor.


Of eight conclaves since 1903, only two earlier ones had ended after two days, the last in 1978 when Cardinal Albino Luciani, patriarch of Venice, was chosen and took the name John Paul I.


In recent days, Cardinal Ratzinger emerged as a leading contender, although Vatican experts had said opposition to him was strong going into the conclave.


Two thirds, or 77 votes, was needed to become the pope in the early stages of voting.


In keeping with centuries of tradition, the cardinals were locked away to choose a new leader for the Church and its 1.1 billion members. Their deliberations are also, in theory, completely secret, so not only are the ballots themselves burnt but also any notes taken during the session.


As on Monday, St. Peter's Square welled with thousands of spectators - nuns, priests, tourists, Italians. The faithful debated whether it should be a conservative or a moderate; an Italian or Latin American; Cardinal Ratzinger, or someone of his choosing, or someone opposed to him and his more doctrinal beliefs.


"It's a little bit nerve-wracking," said Patrick Harvey, 40, of Washington, D.C., a Catholic who happened to be in Rome and has gone to the square to watch the smoke both times. "It's a very pivotal time for the church whether it will go to the left or the right or the center."


The previous pope who took the name Benedict XV was an Italian who presided from 1914 to 1922 during World War I. A diplomat, his efforts to end the war were ignored by both sides and the papacy was not invited to the peace conference that followed hostilities.




Christine Hauser contributed reporting for this article from New York.

Elizabeth, I cringed for you when I heard the announcement.

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Vatican invites worldwide Church to celebrate inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI

Vatican City, Apr. 22, 2005 (CNA) - On Sunday, the eyes of the world will once again fall on Rome as Pope Benedict XVI is inaugurated as 265th Pope of the Catholic Church.

Yesterday, the Vatican announced that the solemn Eucharistic celebration to inaugurate Pope Benedict’s would take place in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, April 24 at 10 a.m. (4am Eastern)

It added that all cardinals currently in Rome would concelebrate the Mass.

"The Church in Rome and in various parts of the world," the Vatican statement reads, "is invited to give filial thanks and make a fervent supplication to God to obtain for the new Roman Pontiff, who will be given the Petrine pallium and the Ring of the Fisherman, copious graces for his ministry for the good of the entire Church."

The statement added that on Monday, April 25, at 6:30 p.m., the Holy Father will visit the tomb of the Apostle Paul in the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls on the Via Ostiense "to express the inseparable bond of the Church of Rome with the Apostle of the People together with the Fisherman from Galilee."

Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls, announced yesterday that the new Holy Father would receive pilgrims from Germany who have come to celebrate the inauguration on Monday at the Vatican.

The Pope, he noted, would welcome journalists, on Saturday, April 23 at 11 a.m. in the Paul VI Hall.

The Vatican also noted that Pope Benedict XVI would receive heads of the diplomatic missions accredited to the Holy See and the heads of delegations present for the inauguration Mass following the celebration on Sunday, April 24--not on Monday, April 25, as previously announced.

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