Leaders hail new Pope but reformists disappointed

LONDON - World leaders congratulated former German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on his election as Pope Benedict XVI today, describing him as a man blessed with the same wisdom and compassion as Pope John Paul II.

Many among the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics welcomed Ratzinger as representing continuity after serving as one of the late Pope's closest aides and guardian of Church doctrine for nearly a quarter of a century.

However, there was disappointment among those who had hoped a new pope might relax the Church's views on issues such as contraception. Others voiced concern over whether Ratzinger was committed to ecumenism - unity among Christian churches.

"That a fellow countryman has become pope fills us in Germany with special joy and also with a little pride," German President Horst Koehler said.

Ratzinger is the first German pope for some 1000 years.

Besides being leader of the Catholic Church, the Pope is also head of state of the Holy See - the Vatican - and his election was met with congratulations from around the world.

US President George W Bush called Ratzinger "a man of great wisdom and knowledge".

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Ratzinger would bring a wealth of experience to his papacy.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was quoted by aide Nabil Abu Rdainah as saying he hoped the new pope would continue the Vatican's support for a just peace in the Holy Land.

But as conservative arch-theologian during the last papacy, Ratzinger became a controversial figure, attracting his critics.

In 2000, he branded other Christian churches as deficient and then lambasted Lutherans as "absurd" when they complained.

Bernd Goehring, director of German ecumenical group Kirche von Unten, said the election was a catastrophe.

"We can expect no reform from him in the coming years... I think that even more people will turn their back on the church."

Jewish leaders said they believed Ratzinger would build on the strides made by John Paul II in helping repair the centuries of mistrust between the two monotheistic faiths.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said Ratzinger grew up in an anti-Nazi family but was forced to join the Hitler Youth Movement.

"The new Pope, like his predecessor, was deeply influenced by the events of World War 2," Hier said, adding that he was confident Pope Benedict XVI would continue to reach out to other religions such as Judaism.

"Cardinal Ratzinger already has shown a profound commitment to advancing Catholic-Jewish relations," said Rabbi David Rosen, the American Jewish Committee's international director of interreligious affairs.

In Latin America, which had hoped one of their own would be elected pontiff this time, the choice may be seen as divisive.

Ratzinger had disciplined Latin American priests who backed Marxist-influenced "liberation theology" to fight against social injustice and military regimes in the 1970s and 1980s.

- REUTERS