Jared Wicks, SJ
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Religious Studies Department

"The election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to the office of Successor of Peter is a surprise, since I had been expecting the next Pope to come from the ranks of the those now functioning as archbishops of major dioceses.

"I knew the new Pope when he was professor of systematic theology in the University of Muester, where I was a graduate student. It was the time of Vatican Council II, in which he served as theological advisor to Cardinal Frings of Cologne. We came in droves to hear the lectures he would give on Council developments at the end of each working period.

"This is probably the most-published man who has become Pope, since he has turned out some 30 books of his own on theological and spiritual topics. He draws on the Fathers of the Church, especially St. Augustine, and on biblical themes.

"I have a special appreciation for his work in 1999, when he helped save the project of the Catholic-Lutheran declaration of consensus on the doctrine of justification, after the process of Catholic approval had bogged down.

"Working with the retired Lutheran bishop of Bavaria, he drafted an 8-point 'Annex' to the Declaration, which clarified the text in a manner satisfactory to some objecting Catholics. Thus, the Declaration was received and signed on October 31, 1999."

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Fr. Donald Cozzens
Writer in Residence
Religious Studies Department

"Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's choice of his papal name, Benedict XVI, is telling. The last pope to bear that name, Benedict XV, began his papacy with a divided Church and immediately distinguished himself as a unifer and healer. Pope Benedicit XVI begins his pastoral leadership at a time when the Church is deeply polarized, especially in Europe and North America. Is it not possible that one of his first goals as pope will be the healing of the present divisions shaking the foundations of the Catholic Church?"

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Doris Donnelly PhD
Professor of Theology
Director, The Cardinal Suenens Center

"Cardinal Ratzinger was a dynamic presence at the Second Vatican Council serving as theological advisor to the highly respected Cardinal Josef Frings of Germany . As the new Pope Benedict XVI he referred to himself today in pastoral terms as a 'simple, humble worker,' as one with 'insufficient tools' for the formidable responsibility ahead of him. We may hope to see a creative blending of his progressive roots and his restorationist sympathies as he assumes an agenda with great potential to influence the world."

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Rev. Mark A. Lewis SJ
Interim Director,
Institute of Catholic Studies

"Pope Benedict XVI knows the Jesuits and Jesuit education well.  While he was a theology professor in Tubingen, Germany, he taught some Jesuit seminarians.  He also was a collaborator with a leading Jesuit theologian of the 20 th century, Karl Rahner SJ, when he was a theologian at the Second Vatican Council.  As a theologian in his own right, and as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he has been very aware of Jesuit theologians—not only those who have been examined by that Congregation, but also by the many who have served as consultants and experts in theology for the same Congregation and its related commissions."

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