c. 2005 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY _ Clearly concerned that some U.S. Catholics have been cool to the election of Pope Benedict XVI, seven American cardinals say Catholics back home should give his papacy time rather than judge him negatively.

“Look at this Holy Father, don’t make judgments (from) what you hear on the television,” said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington. “Make a judgment based on what you read of his writings and what you see of his talks.

“I think they (American Catholics) will find that in this Holy Father they have someone who is going to be very, very open to the needs and the cries of others,” said McCarrick in a Wednesday (April 20) news conference held with other cardinals.

Benedict, known until Tuesday as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, is a tireless defender of Catholic beliefs who clamped down on unorthodox theologians while laying out conservative views on homosexuality, the ordination of women, priestly celibacy and the Catholic Church’s relations with other religions.

His election has received mixed reviews.

Praise for his faith, humility and standing as a theologian of high rank has been countered with concern that his uncompromising conservatism made him the wrong choice to lead the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics.

The leader of a Catholic reform group in Europe said on CNN that her “heart sank” when Ratzinger’s name was announced Tuesday in St. Peter’s Square. A major Italian newspaper ran a cartoon of Benedict introducing himself to the St. Peter’s crowd, warning them against correcting his mistakes. It was meant as a stinging reminder of the famous introduction John Paul II made to the faithful 26 years ago, when the native of Poland won friends by inviting Italians to correct him if he fumbled their language.

The initial reaction to the new pope is not the introduction to the world the Vatican had wanted.

During their press conference at the Pontifical North American College near St. Peter’s Square, the seven American cardinals expressed concern about the new pope’s reputation and cautioned against a rush to judgment.

“I think you have to be very careful not to characterize him in certain ways. … I’ve already seen the headlines,” said Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles.

“Instead of guessing where (Benedict) stands on the great questions of our time, (people should) read what he has to say,” said Cardinal Edward Egan of New York. “He has a phenomenal colloquy of theology and philosophy and insights into our world, which we believe very soon will come to be known and much admired.”

McCarrick urged the faithful to focus on what Benedict said Wednesday during a special Mass for cardinals at the Sistine Chapel.

In a message broadcast around the world, Benedict said he would follow the path of his predecessor and close friend, John Paul II, in reaching out to other religions and youth. John Paul, he said, left the church “more courageous, freer, younger.”

“I address myself to everyone, even to those who follow other religions or who are simply seeking an answer to the fundamental questions of life and have not yet found it,” Benedict said. “I address everyone with simplicity and affection, to assure them that the church wants to continue to build an open and sincere dialogue with them, in a search for the true good of mankind and of society.”

His tone was harsher two days earlier, when in a homily before his election then-Cardinal Ratzinger warned other cardinals against following “winds of doctrine” and a “dictatorship of relativism” that, he lamented, has led many people astray from traditional Catholicism.

But McCarrick said Benedict’s message Wednesday was “like his State of the Union,” a blueprint for his papacy.

“He’s in the tradition of John Paul II,” McCarrick said. “… He knows the importance of youth. He knows the importance of dialogue, even with other religious groups.”

McCarrick also said victims of clergy sex abuse will find that the new pope _ whose Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith helped investigate allegations against priests worldwide _ takes their problems seriously.

“If they are looking for someone who will always try to be fair, they got that person. … If they are looking for someone whose heart will break when he hears that story, they’re also looking for someone like Benedict XVI,” McCarrick said.

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Ratzinger caused some controversy in the United States in 2002 when, speaking about clergy sex abuse, he told the Catholic News Service that “less than 1 percent of priests are guilty of acts of this type,” and that protracted attention to it was motivated by anti-Catholic bias. A church study later said 4 percent of priests from 1950 through 2002 were credibly accused of abuse.

But two lay Catholics who served on a special review board on clergy sex abuse praised Benedict, telling The Philadelphia Inquirer this week that no bishop or cardinal was more interested in meeting with them than was he.

Still, it is not surprising Benedict’s election has been controversial, said John L. Allen Jr., author of “Cardinal Ratzinger: The Vatican’s Enforcer of the Faith,” which is being re-released next month as “Pope Benedict XVI.”

Despite a shy, humble demeanor, “Ratzinger (is) that rare Vatican official who is a media star,” said Allen, an analyst for Religion News Service and CNN and a Vatican correspondent for National Catholic Reporter. “Lots of people, Catholic and non-Catholic, have perceptions of him, and they’re not universally positive perceptions.”

Being pope, rather than the church’s guardian of dogma _ his job for 24 years under John Paul II _ may broaden Benedict’s vision in a more inclusive way, Allen said Wednesday.

“I think the message (we) heard from him at the end of that Mass this morning clearly reflects that. He was talking about dialogue, saying he wants to talk to theologians. He was talking about interreligious outreach. He was talking about the need to be engaged in social justice. That is a laundry list of the concerns that a lot of people had with Ratzinger, and I think it’s not at all accidental that that’s what he chose to touch on this morning.”

MO/PH END RNS

(Jeff Diamant is a staff writer for The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.)