Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected as the Pope - the head of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.
That means he has a great power in his hand in order to change and give a direction to many things.
Since the September 11 attacks, the world has been experiencing a great hostility between the christian and islam
communities. It is believed that a sensible pope can do many positive things to prevent this lack of communication between
these communities. But at the same time his attitudes can result in increasing this tension, particularly considering how
conservative he is.
Let us give some concise information about him so that it can be predicted whether his activities will be more peaceful
or unpeaceful.
Conservative pope
Pope Benedict XVI, who is the oldest pope for more than a century, was born in 1927 into a traditional farming family in
Bavaria, Germany, although his father was a policeman.
The future pope's studies at seminary were interrupted by World War II and his supporters say that his experiences under
the Nazi regime convinced him that the Church had to stand up for truth and freedom.
He is the first German Pope since the 11th Century.
A close friend and confidante of Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI is also known as a fellow conservative.
For more than 20 years he was head of the congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican - the Vatican's guardian
of orthodoxy.
The BBC's William Horsley in Rome says his papacy is sure to continue John Paul II's strongly traditional interpretation
of the Catholic faith, including opposition to abortion, homosexuality, priestly marriage and women priests.
The BBC correspondent says that the homily he made at the Mass before the start of the Conclave in which he denounced
all deviations from traditional church teachings as trickery and error, may have been decisive in winning him the title of
Pope.
(quoted from bbc.co.uk)
Here is a news about the new Pope's views on Islam.
This news belonging to 2002 represents a moderate aspect:click on to read it
