Sermons and Reflections:

Reflections on the selection
of a new pope

By John H. P. Reumann

The Rev. Dr. John H. P. Reumann, Ministerium of Pennsylvania Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Greek, has served for more than three decades as a key participant in the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue.

Anyone involved in Lutheran-Catholic dialogue would long have known of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. He was recognized for years as an able and keen theologian with wide interests.

Earlier in his career he was among those accounted a liberal voice in German Catholicism, by Hans Kueng, no less. It is also well known how the student rebellions in Europe changed his outlook. Ratzinger was by no means the only person so affected by radical student activities in European universities. His role in Rome was to defend the faith, as classically articulated for Roman Catholics, and he did this with vigor.

It needs to be remembered that one of the great guessing games among Vatican-watchers is to try to discern the exact authorship of such documents as "Some Aspects of the Church as Communion" (1992) or "Dominus Jesus." Part of the game is to imagine to what extent the Pope himself was involved in such authorship.

Vatican-watchers told us all sorts of things during the recent election of a new pope, and then they circulated a variety of views about Benedict XVI, some of it probably true. We shall not know for years, if ever, exactly what happened in the conclave. Reporters spoke of Cardinal Ratzinger as front-runner and then assured us he had peaked and someone else would be chosen. There really was no "liberal" candidate. (The name of Carlo Martini, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, retired, was sometimes so identified. He was known to some of us as a New Testament scholar, whose name appears with that of Bruce Metzger and three others for producing the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament.)

The turn of Latin America or Africa for the office of pope will come in due time, but European continuity one more time seems prudent. One more attempt to keep Christian the continent?

How is the choice of Joseph Ratzinger as Pope to be regarded? Positively, it is a wise choice, in my opinion.

1. He brings great theological acumen to the office.
2. He assures continuity with his predecessor in many ways.
3. His is sure to be a shorter pontificate than that of John Paul II, with less travel. To enter into the office at age 78 is a lot different than at 58. Benedict XVI and I are the same age. Our birthdays fall on April 21 (mine) and April 23 (his). I cannot imagine taking on such an office at my age (though I suppose that if asked, I'd contemplate it with God's help. What else can one say?). He has my sympathies, as many leaders do, in the tasks they are asked to undertake. How will a less charismatic theologian than his predecessor handle the tasks and expectations for a pope in the 21st century?
4. Benedict XVI will bring, among other things, a knowledge of Lutheran history, theology, and dialogue to his office as perhaps no predecessor has done. Put crassly, he can at least spell "Lutheran." (Really, "Evangelisch," the term in Germany). And he possesses certain knowledge and sympathy for the younger Martin Luther. It must not be forgotten that during difficult times on the way to the Joint Declaration on Justification by Faith, in 1999, Cardinal Ratzinger and the (retired) Lutheran bishop in Bavaria, Dietzfelbinger (who once chaired the Board of the Ecumenical Institute in Strasbourg, France, on which I served), corresponded and met and smoothed the way to the agreement. One should not expect a "fast track" for Lutheran-Catholic dialogue, but at least a concern for it among the many tasks the papacy faces.
5. No one can predict what issues may emerge as crucial in Benedict's pontificate, nor how he will react. His office is now different from and broader than the task of being watchdog for the faith. What facets of his theology over a long career and the complex Catholic heritage will come to the fore remains to be seen. Optimism is in order as a part of hope.