Jordan Times
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Muslims, Mideast seek
continuity from Pope
King welcomes election of Benedict XVI
By Mahmoud Al Abed with AFP dispatches
HIS MAJESTY KING Abdullah on Wednesday welcomed the election of Pope Benedict
XVI as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church to succeed the late John Paul
II.
In a cable to the pontiff, the King congratulated
Pope Benedict XVI and expressed confidence that the Holy Father's "wisdom and
courage" would guide him in carrying on with the efforts spearheaded by John
Paul II to help achieve world peace and social justice and enhance mutual
respect between the world's religions.
"Rania joins me in congratulating you upon your election and we are sure that
His Holiness will spare no effort in advocating human dignity and love," King
Abdullah was quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, as saying in the cable.
Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania attended the funeral of Pope John
Paul II, who passed on April 2.
Spokesman for the Roman Catholic Bishop in Amman Salim Sayegh, Father Hanna
Kildani, said Benedict XVI has always been "a supporter of the rights of peoples
and inter-faith dialogue." Father Kildani described the new pontiff as the "heir
to the late Pope's ideas."
He said Benedict XVI "was involved in the foreign policy of the Vatican," and
has long followed a consistent line in support of inter-faith dialogue and the
need to reach out to the world's civilisations and support the rights of
peoples.
Secretary General of the Islamic Action Front Hamzah Mansour said his party, the
largest Islamist and opposition group in the Kingdom, respects the decision of
the cardinals.
"We hope that the confidence the new Pope won would reflect positively on the
rightful causes of the Arabs and Muslims," Mansour said. He also voiced hope
that the new pontiff would continue inter-faith dialogue with the same spirit of
tolerance shown by his predecessor.
For his part, Deputy Director of Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, Bakr
Hiari, welcomed the election of Benedict XVI as the leader of Vatican, noting
that "the Holy Father has a host of unresolved urgent worldly concerns before
him. He will have to weigh and determine those issues that will need his moral
strength and dedication to bring further unity to the Catholic Church."
Continuity
Christians and political leaders in the Middle East on Wednesday looked to new
Pope Benedict XVI to press on with his much-admired predecessor's policy of
promoting peace and dialogue between faiths.
The late Pope John Paul II, the first pontiff in history to enter a mosque and a
synagogue, won respect throughout the region for his efforts to bring the
world's great monotheistic faiths together.
The conservative outlook of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger that has caused
controversy in the Western world appeared not to overly concern religious
leaders in the Middle East, who looked for continuity.
Egyptian Coptic Catholic Bishop Yohanna Qulta, whose community numbers over
200,000 faithful and sees the Pope as its spiritual leader, was among the first
to offer the new Pope his congratulations.
"We congratulate the Catholic church and the Christian world, we hope that Pope
Benedict XVI will continue on the road traced by Pope John Paul II and carry on
with his efforts, especially as far as dialogue is concerned and reaching out to
a world much in need of a Christian outlook."
Asked for his opinion about the appointment of yet another conservative Pope, he
said: "I believe that the church has chosen Cardinal Ratzinger as a bridge
between John Paul II and another, younger Pope. Cardinal Ratzinger is 78 years
old and he may not stay on very long."
Syrian President Bashar Assad said he looked forward to working with the new
pontiff.
"We are attached to continuing the work begun with your predecessor John Paul
II... with whom we agreed to work for peace and justice in the world and for
friendship and dialogue between religions and civilisations," he said.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas sent a message of congratulations to the new
pontiff, saying: "I hope you will continue to work for peace in the Holy Land."
Israel also saluted the election of Benedict, urging him to fight anti-Semitism
and continue John Paul II's policy of reconciliation with Jews.
"He is well known as a friend of the Jewish people. I hope and I pray that he
will follow the path of Pope John Paul II," said the chief rabbi of Tel Aviv
Israel Lau.
"The last time I met him in New York he spoke most forcefully against
anti-Semitism," Lau, a former chief rabbi of Israel, told army radio.
"Given his historical experience, we hope the new Pope will be faithful to the
commitment of the Catholic church to fight anti-Semitism," said Foreign Minister
Silvan Shalom.
Newspapers in multi-confessional Lebanon, where about one quarter of the
population is Catholic, said the appointment of Ratzinger was a sign of
"continuity" after his conservative predecessor.
The liberal An-Nahar newspaper said the "election of a conservative German
reflects the will of the cardinals to pursue the conservative path of the late
John Paul II."
The leftist As-Safir daily also said Ratzinger would steer the church "towards
doctrinal conservatism."
"The election of the new Pope was a surprise because his (older) age and his
conservative ideas that are controversial both inside the church and among
followers," it said.
Yunaden Kanha, the only Christian lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament, expressed
satisfaction with the election of the new Pope and wished he would bring hope to
his violence-scarred country.
"We are frankly very happy with the quick election of Benedict XVI and we hope
he will follow the path of John Paul II. We hope that he will continue a policy
of peace, security and stability in the world, especially in our country where
there is so much violence."
In the Arabian peninsula, the United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Khalifa Ben
Zayed Al Nahyan wished the Pope "success in his mission and his efforts aimed at
continuing dialogue between all religions and civilisations, so as to
consolidate peace, justice and tolerance in the world."
In Kuwait, Emir Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah reportedly sent a congratulatory
telegram to the Pope, while eminent Shiite Mohammad Baqer Al Mohri expressed his
hope that Benedict XVI would "preserve the Church's independence" and "not give
in to political pressure."
Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad Ben Khalifa Al Thani, and the crown prince also sent
telegrams congratulating the new Pope on his appointment, the QNA agency
reported.
Praise, alarm
In other parts of the globe, world leaders showered Pope Benedict XVI with
praise and jubilant villagers in his German hometown celebrated, but his
election also triggered deep disquiet and, in some quarters, alarm.
Believers and non-believers pored over the record of Ratzinger, including his
strict doctrine against gays, women priests, or the use of condoms, for clues as
to how he would run the 1.1-billion-strong Roman Catholic Church.
Politicians expressed hope, while AIDS, women's rights activists and some church
leaders voiced dismay.
"He is a man of great wisdom and knowledge," US President George W. Bush said
shortly after the news was announced Tuesday, recalling Ratzinger's sermon at
John Paul II's funeral.
"His words touched our hearts and the hearts of millions. We join with our
fellow citizens and millions around the world who pray for continued strength
and wisdom as His Holiness leads the Catholic Church."
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Ratzinger would be "a worthy successor"
to the Polish-born John Paul II.
"This is a great honour for Germany," Schroeder said. "I think he will be a
worthy successor to Pope John Paul II. I congratulate him on behalf of the
government and all Germans."
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the new pontiff "brings a wealth of
experience to this exalted office."
From Europe to Latin America, the heartland of Roman Catholicism, to the United
States, Asia, Africa, tributes poured in.
The World Council of Churches, which groups most of the Christian faiths except
the Roman Catholic church, hailed Benedict XVI's pledge to rebuild Christian
unity.
The Geneva-based ecumenical movement brings together 342 Christian churches —
Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox — representing up to 500 million Christians in
about 120 countries, but its relations with the Vatican have been fraught.
In Istanbul, the head of the Orthodox Church, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
I, urged Benedict XVI to pursue the dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox
churches launched by John Paul II.
"The fact that the new Pope comes from the German nation, which experienced
division for years and today plays an important role in the unity of Europe...
gives us hope and confidence that he will be able to express the importance of
unity, or at least of peaceful cooperation," Bartholomew said, according to an
unofficial translation of his statement in Greek.
In Africa, South African President Thabo Mbeki said the pontiff could be
Africa's ally to fight "racist evil" and "create a new, safer and fairer world."
But in a reminder of the diplomatic challenges facing the new pontiff, Beijing
called on him to break ties with Taiwan and stay out of China's internal affairs
to create conditions for better Sino-Vatican relations.
No-one celebrated harder than residents in Ratzinger's hometown, the Bavarian
village of Marktl am Inn on the Austrian border, where he was born 78 years ago.
Some shed tears while chanting, "Benedict from Bavaria, we want to celebrate
you!" Firemen climbed onto a truck and drove around, rallying villagers to
gather in the main market square for a celebration, complete with free beer.
No-one was more crushed than believers hoping for a relaxation in the Vatican's
iron-clad opposition to contraception, homosexuality and the ordination of
women.
"In his record as head of the congregation responsible for doctrine, the new
Pope was clearly someone who held very, very strongly to a rigid line that most
people have found to be a conservative line," said Anglican Archbishop and Nobel
Peace laureate Desmond Tutu.
"And we hope, we hope, we hope very, very much that sitting on the papal throne
will have the effect of easing the rigidities," he said.
In Latin America, Benedict XVI came under fire from Brazilian theologian
Leonardo Boff, a proponent of "liberation theology" — which holds the Catholic
Church should promote human rights and social justice.
Boff slammed the new Pope as "a hard man with no compassion" and predicted that
his papacy would be marked by a "radical continuation" of John Paul II's
positions against condoms, and "discrimination" against homosexuals and people
infected with HIV.
AIDS activists called on Benedict XVI to ease the papal ban on the use of
condoms to prevent HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
"(He) has a great opportunity to help tackle the global HIV pandemic. We hope
that he will take it," said Nick Partridge, chief executive of the Terrence
Higgins Trust, a London NGO.
But the new Pope represented a ray of hope for Swiss-based traditionalist
Catholics, who regard Latin as the only language that may be used during mass
and have been excluded from the Church for more than a quarter century.
The community said it hoped the "bimillenial tradition of the Church, which has
been forgotten and battered during the last 40 years, should at last recover its
place during this papacy."
No-one was more shocked at Ratzinger's rise to the papacy than his own brother.
"He sank before the television and isn't saying a word," said Agnes Heindl,
housekeeper of the Pope's 81-year-old brother, Georg Ratzinger.
"I've never seen him like this."
Later, the Pope's brother told German television: "I am very concerned. I would
have thought his advanced age and his health which is not very stable would have
been reason enough for the cardinals to pick someone else."