RI Catholics hail election of new pope

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.