RI Catholics hail election of new pope
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Bishops Council of Indonesia (KWI) and the country's Catholics hailed the election of German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday.
"All Catholics in Indonesia, either individually or collectively, will have their own ways of expressing joy at the election of the new pope. And without any special instruction, all Catholic adherents will join force with those from other countries to pray for the new pope during his ordination, scheduled for this Sunday," the secretary of the KWI, Mgr. Ignatius Suharyo, told The Jakarta Post by phone from Yogyakarta on Wednesday.
Catholic communities in Java, East Nusa Tenggara, Papua, Sulawesi, Maluku and North Sumatra attended Mass on Wednesday to welcome the new pope.
Frans Seda, a leading Catholic figure in Indonesia, described the new pope as an intellectual and generous.
"I knew him personally when he led our discussion group during a one-month grand synod of laymen in the Vatican in 1990. He has a great reputation in theology and Church doctrine, and he has a big heart. He is the right successor for John Paul II and will keep the Roman Catholic Church on its path," he said.
Monika Budirahayu, 25, a business analyst in Jakarta, said she was pleased with the new pope, a long-time adviser to John Paul II.
Rev. Sugiri van den Hevel, minister of St. Theresia Church in Menteng, Central Jakarta, hailed the new pope as an intellectual and professional.
He said Ratzinger was elected because God wanted him to lead the Church and he was the right man for the position.
Mgr. Suharyo, the archbishop of Semarang diocese supervising Central Java and Yogyakarta, said Catholics were pleased that the new pope had been elected so quickly.
The two-day conclave of 115 cardinals to elect the new pope was one of the shortest of the last 100 years.
"The brief conclave shows there were no major differences among the cardinals on the election of the pope. They had the same expectation that the new pope would defend the stern legacy of his predecessor, John Paul II.
"Of the most importance is that a majority of the cardinals are of the same view that the Roman Catholic Church must maintain the orthodoxy in its doctrines, instead of taking a liberal stance. Under the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI, who chaired the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith during John Paul II's 26-year reign, the Roman Catholic Church can be expected to reject the ordination of women priests, abortion and same-sex marriage," he said.
Mgr. Suharyo also said the new pope was expected to continue interfaith dialog to help build peace in the world, as part of the implementation of the 1965 Vatican II Decree.
"We hope the new pontiff will pay attention to interfaith dialog to show the Church's openness to the world, because the Roman Catholic Church is not everything but just a part of universal salvation. The new pope is also expected to continue implementing the Gaudium et Spes (joy and hope) Decree to show the Church's care for the poor, the vulnerable and the oppressed," he said.
Asked why he thought the new pope chose the name Benedict XVI, Mgr. Suharyo guessed that Ratzinger, born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1927, was determined to address the declining religious life of Europe, as Benedict XV did during his papacy.
"The new pontiff would like to renew the religious life of the people of Europe, who are facing not only secularization but also secularism that negates religion," he said.