2008 Woodie Awards
Pope Benedict XVI declares `the church is alive'
Patricia Montemurri and Ken Dilanian ; Knight Ridder Newspapers
Issue date: 4/27/05 Section: News
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"My real program of governance is not to do my own will, not to pursue my own ideas, but to listen, together with the whole church, to the word and the will of the Lord, to be guided by Him so that He himself will lead the church at this hour of our history," the pope said in his coronation homily, which he read in Italian as tens of thousands of people watched and listened in St. Peter's Square.
The ceremony, known as a mass of investiture, was seen by millions of television viewers around the world and attended by dozens of foreign dignitaries, including the Queen of Spain, the German chancellor and President Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a convert to Roman Catholicism.
The outdoor mass was the last major public event in the first papal transition in a generation, a three-week period that's cast an unprecedented global spotlight on the Roman Catholic Church and its rituals, its debates, its history and its hopes.
For many Catholics wondering how their new pope will approach his job, Benedict's words were as important as the majesty of the two-and-a-half hour service.
As the Vatican's chief theological enforcer, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger staked out conservative positions on the role of women, married priests, homosexuality and the validity of other faiths. He said the church must be firm in enforcing its teachings, even if some of them drive away believers. He disciplined dozens of theologians and suggested that politicians who support abortion rights should be denied communion.
As he did in his Sistine Chapel homily the day after he was elected and in his remarks Saturday to an audience that included 1,000 journalists, however, Benedict sought to reach out on Sunday. He delivered "special greetings" to Christians of other denominations, and also to Jews, "to whom," he said, "we are joined by a great shared spiritual heritage."