Across Globe, Joy Mixes With Regret

Francisco Estrela asked for whom the bells of St. Peter’s tolled, and he was slightly disappointed to discover that it wasn’t for his countryman, Claudio Hummes.

Brazilian-born Hummes, the cardinal of Sao Paulo, was considered by many to be a strong candidate to succeed Pope John Paul II as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

But with the election Tuesday of Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, hopes among some that the College of Cardinals might give a nod to certain demographic realities in choosing the next pontiff were dashed.

“Any one of [the candidates] would be welcome,” said Estrela, a porter at the Church of the Resurrection in this seaside city in the world’s biggest Catholic country. “But it would have been better had it been a Brazilian.”

Across the globe, messages of congratulation and declarations of relief and optimism, along with pangs of regret in some quarters, greeted the announcement of Ratzinger’s elevation as the 265th pope, Benedict XVI.

Many hailed the selection of a leader they regard as cut from the same theological and spiritual cloth as the man who went before him. Known for his loyalty to John Paul and his strict enforcement of the late pontiff’s teachings, Ratzinger seemed a safe pick to continue shepherding the world’s 1 billion Catholics in the direction set by his predecessor and build on his legacy.

“He’s fantastic,” said Marian McCann, a housekeeper in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after attending a Mass in honor of the new pontiff. “It’s great that we have someone who was so close to the [former] pope. He speaks so strongly about our faith, and he’ll call people to the church.”

Ratzinger is “one of the orthodox ones,” said Buenos Aires resident Norma Tassinar, 67. “He’s going to keep the church the way it’s been for 2,000 years, and that’s good. It’s going to help us because there are a lot of people who said we had to change directions.”

Other Latin Americans were less enthusiastic. Many felt that the time had come for a non-European pope, in recognition of a globalized church whose followers increasingly hailed from Latin America, Africa and other parts of the developing world.

“We had hopes for a pope from among the Latin Americans, where the majority of the world’s Catholics live, so there is a little disappointment,” said Roberto Rodriguez Marchena, a government spokesman in the Dominican Republic.

He described the election of a pope 20 years older than John Paul II was at the time of his elevation as a transitional move and speculated that “we will still have chances” for a Latin American pontiff in the near future.

Those hoping for a pope of a more liberal cast, one who might revisit thorny issues such as abortion, contraception and priestly celibacy, were disappointed as well. Ratzinger hewed to John Paul’s conservative line on those matters.

Hans Kung, a dissident theologian and former colleague of Ratzinger’s, called his election “a huge disappointment” for Catholics seeking reform. But he counseled patience. “Like the U.S. president, we should give him 100 days of learning.”

Matthew Halliday, a young British Catholic, acknowledged that it would be a challenge to hold on to church members who might be alienated by more conservative teachings. “We don’t want to lose sheep,” Halliday said at Westminster Cathedral in London. “So we have to get to work.”

Many of the faithful said they were elated that the cardinals made their choice so quickly, seeing it as a sign of unity. Celebrations were especially jubilant in Ratzinger’s homeland, which hasn’t had a native son on the throne of St. Peter for centuries.

“A German pope -- a miracle! It is a great joy,” said Johannes Heesters, a 101-year-old actor who is Catholic.

“The fact that a German was elected pope is a proud moment, a deeply moving moment,” said Angela Merkel, chair of the opposition Christian Democrats. “I wish Pope Benedict XVI power, health and God’s blessing.”

The mood was bittersweet in neighboring Poland, whose people were still mourning the passing of the former pope, one of their own. Krakow’s famous Sigmundus bell sounded for 25 minutes at the announcement of the new pontiff. In Warsaw, Alicja Gadomska and her fellow students interrupted their class to watch the news from the Vatican.

“I don’t know much about the new pope, but he really touched my heart during John Paul II’s funeral speech,” said Gadomska, 18. “He said such touching things about our pope. I will give him a chance.”

Those who fondly remembered John Paul as an inveterate traveler said they hoped his successor would continue efforts to reach out.

“We want the new pope to remember that there are Christians in the Middle East too,” said Antoine Sarkis, 55, a Maronite Catholic in Jounie, a coastal city in Lebanon’s Christian heartland. “I congratulate the new pope and pray that he will also work to mend Christian-Muslim relations and move closer to the Orthodox Church.”

Heads of state and other political leaders from such countries as Mexico and Germany were quick to extend invitations to Benedict XVI, each hoping to make his nation the site of the pope’s first international visit.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder praised the pope as “a great and internationally acknowledged theologian” and a “worthy successor of Pope John Paul II.”

South African President Thabo Mbeki sent his country’s congratulations, noting that Ratzinger was assuming leadership of the Vatican at a time of deepening poverty and underdevelopment in many parts of the world.

“South Africa expresses its conviction that Pope Benedict XVI and indeed the Roman Catholic Church will ally themselves with the global struggle for a better Africa and a better world,” Mbeki said.

In Tokyo, Bishop Kazuko Koda called for tolerance of other religions. “Mother Teresa did not impose Christianity but respected other religions, and Asian churches are influenced by her principle. We share that philosophy with her. An absolute theory of Christianity doesn’t work in Asia, and we won’t be able to work to save people with that idea,” he said.

In the heavily Catholic Philippines, religious leaders’ initial reaction to the choice of Ratzinger was positive.

“He is a very humble person, a good listener and very soft-spoken. Above all, he is brilliant. I’ve met him several times,” Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a senior official with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said in a television interview.

Cruz said the bishops of northern Luzon gathered after the announcement and shared a common view that “this pope will always be for the truth.”

Times staff writers Andres D’Alessandro in Buenos Aires, John Daniszewski in London, Marla Dickerson, Reed Johnson and Narayani Lasala in Mexico City, Robyn Dixon in Johannesburg, Paula Gobbi in Rio de Janeiro, Christian Retzlaff in Berlin and Carol J. Williams in the Dominican Republic contributed to this report. Also contributing were Hisako Ueno of The Times Tokyo bureau, special correspondents Rania Abouzeid in Lebanon, Ron DePasquale in Northern Ireland, Ela Kasprzycka in Warsaw and Sol Vanzi in Manila.