Bishops praise election of ‘thoughtful listener’
Interaction with Pope Benedict XVI has been positive

REACTION TO PAPAL ELECTION -- Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan addresses the media on the grounds of Saint Francis de Sales Seminary following the April 19 election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany as Pope Benedict XVI.

By Maryangela Layman Román and Brian T. Olszewski, Catholic Herald Staff

ST. FRANCIS — Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan had only praise for Pope Benedict XVI in speaking at a press conference and during an interview with the Catholic Herald less than three hours after the pontiff was elected.

He said that when he and bishops from Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois made their ad limina visit to the Vatican last May, they had a 90-minute meeting with then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

“Every bishop who was there unanimously said that this was the best meeting we had,” the archbishop said. “We were moved by his openness, by his willingness to learn more about the Catholic Church in the United States. He was tremendously interested in our pastoral problems.”

Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba concurred.

“It was the most helpful discussion we had,” he said. “He was respectful — a thoughtful listener. It was a very positive experience.”

Bishop Sklba was in Chicago at the headquarters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America participating in a meeting of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs when Pope Benedict’s election was announced.

“We paused to watch and to hear him give his blessing,” the bishop said.

While he said he cannot consider himself a friend of the newly elected pope, Archbishop Dolan said he has met him on several occasions.

While serving for more than seven years as rector of the North American College in Rome, Archbishop Dolan said he’d often see Cardinal Ratzinger walking in his simple surplus and black cassock. “He’s kind of shy, a little timid, a man with an engaging personality and a towering intellect,” he said.

Archbishop Dolan said that year after year, he would ask the seminarians who they wanted to ordain them to the diaconate, and their choice was always Cardinal Ratzinger.

“Every year, it was unfailing. They would ask for him. They admired his theological precision, his obvious piety, and genuine sincerity,” the archbishop said.

When asked whether Pope Benedict might be too conservative a choice for Roman Catholics in the United States, Archbishop Dolan responded that the pope, by his nature is conservative in the best sense of the word.

“The pope is to conserve the integrity of the faith,” he said.

CELEBRATION FOR NEW POPE — A member of the archdiocese holds a worship aid with a picture of the new pope, Benedict XVI, prior to an April 19 Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. (Catholic Herald photo by Sam Lucero)

He also said that Pope Benedict’s experience as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office which has oversight in cases of abuse, will prove helpful as the church deals with the fallout from the recent clergy abuse scandal.

“We found him very open to our suggestions as to how to deal with (the abuse scandal),” he said, describing him as a man of intense compassion.

Archbishop Dolan said that the image some people have of the new pope as “a distant, aloof professor is a stereotype.”

Bishop Sklba said that during the ad limina visits then-Cardinal Ratzinger “engaged in genuine conversation, not lectures. There were questions and discussions.”

The bishop added, “The public press gives him a persona that is not necessarily his own.”

Archbishop Dolan was not surprised by the name the pope chose.

“I told my brother that I thought the next pope would take the name of Benedict,” he said. “The new pope is very concerned about Europe, where faith drove the culture. He sees that engine as running out of steam.”

Noting that Pope Benedict XV worked for unity, peace and reconciliation, Bishop Sklba termed the new pope’s choice of a name “significant.”

“The fact that he chose Benedict signals a call to work on unity and reconcilation,” the bishop said.

Nor was Archbishop Dolan totally surprised that as a non-Italian, Cardinal Ratzinger was elected by the cardinals.

“I wonder if we put too much stress on geography and nationality,” the archbishop said.

“The cardinals may have felt it was important that they elect a man of faith and learning, who knows the church, and who can steadily unpack the teachings that Pope John Paul II left us.”

Bishop Sklba noted that traditionally, popes have “alternated between pastoral and curial.”

“As a curial pope, he can tend to the working office and provide services to the universal church,” he said.

Archbishop Dolan said the learning curve for Pope Benedict is going to be minimal since he has been prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for 24 years.

“He’s not hitting the ground running,” the archbishop said. “He’s hitting the ground on a motorcycle.”

For those who may have a negative view of the new pope, Archbishop Dolan asks that they give him a chance.

“This is a new role. Let’s see how he interprets that role,” the archbishop said. “We may see sides of Pope Benedict XVI that we didn’t see of Cardinal Ratzinger.”

He said the weeks and months to come will be enlightening as the world learns what kind of leader Pope Benedict will be.

Archbishop Dolan reminded the media, “We have learned from church history that you can’t always judge the style of a man’s papacy by the way he was as a bishop or a cardinal.”

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