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Bishop Wuerl: Cardinal has become ‘everyone’s pope’
archived from: 2005-04-22
by: Chuck Moody

Bishop Donald Wuerl said he has had the occasion to work with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on a number of different committees and commissions, particularly in the work that produced the “Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

Bishop Wuerl made the comment at a news conference April 19 in the Diocesan Pastoral Center about 90 minutes after Cardinal Ratzinger was introduced as Pope Benedict XVI and the man who would lead the Catholic Church.

“I was just reflecting that in 1991 when he came to the (United) States and participated in a program put on by what is now the National Catholic Bioethics Center, he and I shared a platform together as he obviously gave a far more informed talk,” Bishop Wuerl said. “But we were both on that same platform together.

“He has made his mark in the life of the church through his constant supervision of the teaching of the church, overseeing the doctrinal life of the church. That’s why he has the title ‘prefect’ of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. I’ve had the privilege of working with him on many, many occasions.”

In all his meetings with Cardinal Ratzinger, Bishop Wuerl said the 265th pope was “an extremely gracious person.” The cardinal always made a point at the end of meetings to wait and greet everybody who was a part of the meeting with “a gentle word,” the bishop said.

“He always speaks with a very soft, reflective tone,” Bishop Wuerl said. “I just found myself, at times, almost mesmerized by the way in which he could take problems and analyze them as they were being discussed. I think that flows out of his spirituality.”

Pope Benedict XVI will provide a “continuity” to the Catholic Church as he follows the late Pope John Paul II, Bishop Wuerl said.

“If there’s anything that this election of the pope says, it says to me that the church is facing a continuity in how it goes about applying the Gospel message to our day today,” he said. “Now style and personality are one thing, but ministry and substance are another. They’re related, but they’re not the same thing.

“But I think we’re going to see in Cardinal Ratzinger something that we already saw as he stood on the balcony (of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City when he was first introduced as the new pope). I think there is a sense of serenity. There’s a sense of deep spirituality. And I think that is going to come through in his ministry.

“I think we’re going to see again the same kind of historical appreciation of the tradition of the church that we saw in the last pontificate under Pope John Paul II.”

Bishop Wuerl said he was not surprised that Cardinal Ratzinger was elected in the conclave of cardinals because his selection came rather quickly, and he had been mentioned as one of the favorites beforehand.

“When I saw the white smoke, I waited and waited for the bells because they said you had to hear the bells to confirm the color of the smoke,” he said. “But when the bells started to ring, I thought to myself that it’s going to be Cardinal Ratzinger.”

While Pope Benedict XVI is truly a successor to John Paul II, he’s also successor to a line of 263 other popes, Bishop Wuerl said.

“So what he succeeds to is all of that,” he said. “It’s not just that he has to look at what did John Paul II do, and ‘How do I continue that?’ He has to look at ‘What is the mission that this tradition teaches in the church?’ and ‘How do I carry that on?’

“I think the choice of the name says that he is going to do it differently. He chose Benedict. I think what he is saying to us somewhat subtly or not so subtly is that he does not see himself as in some way a reproduction of John Paul II’s style. Style and personality are something that are personal gifts that we bring to the ministry. He has just been given the responsibility of the ministry. He now has to bring the gifts of style, the personality he has.

“I think as we saw him stand there on the balcony, it was not an effusive personality. I think we saw a somewhat restrained and very spiritual man. I think that his name is saying to us, ‘Don’t look to see in me all of the same style. Just look to see a successor to this teaching office.’”

Bishop Wuerl, who is of German decent, said he also thought about something else as he saw the new pope standing on the balcony as he was introduced to the thousands of people in the square below and the rest of the world.

“I have to say that the thought went through my mind when he was standing there on the balcony, if he continues World Youth Day, where will the next World Youth Day take place?” the bishop recalled. “It’s already scheduled for Cologne. The first German pope making his first visit to Cologne, to Germany. He may make visits before then, but that did come to mind as just a little providential thought.

“You saw that square of people in front of him. You saw all those flags, and they were from everywhere. He ceases, in a certain sense, to be German today. He ceases to be Joseph Ratzinger. He becomes Benedict XVI. He becomes everyone’s pope.”

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