No one would believe Cardinal Ratzinger would do as the Pope did and said yesterday. The cardinal's place appears to have been taken by a pastor, an all-embracing lover of all humankind, writes Patsy McGarry in Rome.
Papa Ratzi where art thou? Even during the week, on those few evenings as Pope Benedict XVI dropped in to collect a few things in Cardinal Ratzinger's old apartment at Number 1 (now, that we would have expected!) Piazza della cetta Leonina, right beside the Vatican, we were confused by the gentle, smiling man in white who waved a little shyly to the crowds as he left.
Could it possibly be? Would the real Cardinal Ratzinger ever show up? The real paparazzi, meanwhile, seemingly parked permanently outside Number 1, only had lenses for Pope Benedict.
This was an interest yet to be shared by the souvenir shop on the apartment building's ground floor where memorabilia of Pope John Paul II was all they sold.
Where has Cardinal Ratzinger been since Monday last? You'd almost miss the old dogmatist. There he was in St Peter's at the Mass before the conclave began and, in that old familiar never-to-be-forgotten mode, warning against the myriad evils of this awful world.
Beware of "a dictatorship of relativism" he warned, which was nigh. "It does not recognise anything as for certain" and "has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires". Beware the "new sects" and "human trickery" which "with cunning" try to draw people into error, he said.
Beware of those who say that "having a clear faith based on the creed of the church" is "fundamentalism". Be "an adult". Do not "follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties", he continued.
Yes, he was like an Old Testament prophet of old and we have not seen him since.
On Tuesday a man remarkably similar but who said his name was Benedict XVI told us from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica that he was merely "a simple worker in the vineyard of the Lord".
We had no reason to disbelieve him. He seemed nervous and his demeanour echoed the words.
All Wednesday morning cardinals, in press conference after press conference and in interview after interview, told us repeatedly that old Cardinal Ratzinger was no more.
His place had been taken by an altogether different man, one Benedict, a pastor, an all-embracing lover of all humankind from whom only good things and "surprises" were to be expected.
Jews, Muslims, (Turks, too, it was said - whom Cardinal Ratzinger did not believe were really European because of their non-Christian culture), even Protestants, should expect better tidings from Rome, it was hinted.
And, yes, there was that little slippage by Pope Benedict on Wednesday when, in his address after Mass in the Sistine Chapel, used the phrase "ecclesial communities" as he emphasised his commitment to ecumenism. The phrase was so Cardinal Ratzinger, but probably it was just one of those things.
Indeed that address by Pope Benedict was an impressive outline for the papacy ahead. He hit all the right notes, not one ringing false, on his commitment to other Christians, other religions, even those with none, and on collegiality.
He said things you would not imagine being uttered by Cardinal Ratzinger in his most hellish nightmares.
On ecumenism the Pope felt himself "personally implicated in this question".
He was "fully determined to cultivate any initiative that may seem appropriate to promote contact and agreement with representatives from the various churches and ecclesial communities." He would work "tirelessly towards the reconstitution of the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers". It was his "ambition" and his "compelling duty", he said.
It would be difficult to imagine Cardinal Ratzinger being quite as convincing, either.
On collegiality (sharing of decision-making between papacy and the bishops) Pope Benedict spoke very positively on Wednesday. So much so that many imagine it will be the area where he may first make moves in coming months.
Who could ever imagine Cardinal Ratzinger being at all positive about a possible dispersal of authority from the centre?
And then there was yesterday and all that applause during his homily. There was his use of the word "alone" eight times in those early paragraphs, concluding to cheers and more applause: "I am not alone. I do not have to carry alone what in truth I could never carry alone. All the saints of God are there to protect me, to sustain me and to carry me. And your prayers, my dear friends, your indulgence, your love, your faith and your hope accompany me." So John Paul.
Indeed, and this was not just through his repeated references to Pope John Paul in his homily yesterday. It is clear Benedict XVI not only intends sustaining and building on his predecessor's legacy but he also intends relating as directly to the people. It worked a treat for him yesterday. It worked for him when he appeared on the basilica balcony last Tuesday, just as it worked for Cardinal Ratzinger too in his touching homily at Pope John Paul's Mass.
Such a popular touch, even with a lapse into sentiment, was clearly an aberration where Cardinal Ratzinger was concerned. His recovery was quick, as we saw in St Peter's last Monday.
No one could imagine Cardinal Ratzinger talk as Pope Benedict did yesterday about the church being "young" or "alive". The Pope used that latter vital word five times in a few paragraphs yesterday as he reflected on the extraordinary response of youth to the dying and death of Pope John Paul.
Who could imagine Cardinal Ratzinger greeting separated brethren in other Christian denominations and the Jewish people "with great affection" as Pope Benedict did yesterday?
No one would believe Cardinal Ratzinger would do as Pope Benedict did yesterday and say that, "like a wave gathering force, my thoughts go out to all men and women of today, to believers and non-believers alike". Including those damned "relativists", too, we must assume.
And no one could ever imagine the cardinal asking that we pray for him "that I may learn to love his [ Christ's] flock more and more" or "that I may not flee for fear of the wolves". Rather he would more likely seek out the "wolves", the better to savage them.
Ah yes, welcome Pope Benedict, and flights of angels guide thee. Meanwhile, let us hope the panzer cardinal has really gone away.