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Ratzinger elected Pope
Joseph Ratzinger, the first German Pope in centuries, served John Paul II since 1981 as head of the Congregation for Doctrine of Faith. The Papal Transition
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, a longtime guardian of doctrinal orthodoxy, was elected the new pope on Tuesday, in the first Roman Catholic conclave of the new millennium. He chose the name Pope Benedict XVI and called himself "a simple, humble worker."
Ratzinger emerged onto the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, where he waved to a wildly cheering crowd of tens of thousands and gave his first blessing as Pope. Other cardinals clad in their crimson robes came out on other balconies to watch him.
Pilgrims chanted "Benedict! Benedict!" as the church's 265th pontiff appeared after one of the fastest papal conclaves of the past century.
"Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me - a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord," he said after being introduced by Chilean Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estivez.
"The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers," the new Pope said. "I entrust myself to your prayers."
Ratzinger, the first German Pope in centuries, served John Paul II since 1981 as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In that position, he has disciplined church dissidents and upheld church policy against attempts by liberals for reforms. He turned 78 on Saturday.
Ratzinger is the first Germanic Pope in roughly 1,000 years.
White smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel and bells tolled earlier to announce the conclave had produced a Pope. Flag-waving pilgrims in St Peter's Square chanted, "Viva il Papa!" or "Long live the Pope!"
The bells rang after a confusing smoke signal that Vatican Radio initially suggested was black but then declared was too difficult to call. White smoke is used to announce a Pope's election to the world.
It was one of the fastest elections in the past century - Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939 in three ballots on one day, while Pope John Paul I was elected in 1978 in four ballots in one day. The new Pope was elected after either four or five ballots over two days.
"It's only been 24 hours, surprising how fast he was elected," Vatican Radio said, commenting on how the new Pope was elected after just four or five ballots.
More pilgrims were pouring into St Peter's Square, their eyes fixed on the burgundy-draped balcony of St Peter's Basilica, where the new Pope's name was to be read out and the pontiff himself introduced.
Pilgrims said the rosary as they awaited the name of the new Pope and prelates stood on the roof of the Apostolic Palace, watching as the crowd nearly doubled in size.
In the Pope's hometown of Traunstein, Germany, a room full of 13-year-old boys at the St Micheal Seminary that the pontiff attended as a youngster jumped up and down, cheered and clapped as the news was announced.
"It's fantastic that it's Cardinal Ratzinger. I met him when he was here before and I found him really nice," said Lorenz Gradl, 16, who was confirmed by Ratzinger in 2003.
The 265th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church succeeds John Paul II, who gained extraordinary popularity over a 26-year pontificate, history's third-longest papacy. Millions mourned him around the world in a tribute to his charisma.
Antoinette Hastings, from the United States, rose from her wheelchair, grasping her hands together and crying. She has artificial knees, making it tough to stand.
"I feel blessed, absolutely blessed," she said. "I just wish the rest of my family were here to experience this with me."
After the bells started to ring, people on the streets of Rome immediately started heading from all directions toward Vatican City.
Some priests and seminarians in clerical garb were running. Nuns pulled up their long skirts and jogged toward the Vatican. Drivers were honking horns and some people were closing stores early and joining the crowds.
Cardinals had faced a choice over whether to seek an older, skilled administrator who could serve as a "transitional" Pope while the church absorbs John Paul's legacy, or a younger dynamic pastor and communicator - perhaps from Latin America or elsewhere in the developing world where the church is growing.
While John Paul, a Pole, was elected to challenge the communist system in place in eastern Europe in 1978 the new pontiff faces new issues - the need for dialogue with Islam, the divisions between the wealthy north and the poor south as well as problems within his own church.
These include the priest sex-abuse scandals that have cost the church millions in settlements in the United States and elsewhere; coping with a chronic shortage of priests and nuns in the West; and halting the stream of people leaving a church indifferent to teachings they no longer find relevant.
Under John Paul, the church's central authority grew, often to dismay of bishops and rank-and-file Catholics around the world.
Even though John Paul appointed all but two of the men who elected the new Pope, it was no guarantee that the new man would necessarily be in his mold.
Pope John XXIII was 77 when he was elected Pope in 1958 and viewed as a transitional figure, but he called the Second Vatican Council that revolutionized the church from within and opened up its dialogue with non-Catholics.
The new Pope will have to decide whether to keep up the kind of foreign travel that was a hallmark of John Paul's papacy, with his 104 pilgrimages abroad.
