Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Pope Benedict XVI, and most have applauded the name, deserves the goodwill and good wishes of all Christians, in what is an immensely onerous task for a man of any age, writes Martin Mansergh.
He has the advantage of having participated in the running of the Catholic Church as the close collaborator for many years of Pope John Paul II, with particular responsibility during his declining years.
As a forceful personality, he will not just hold the line, but attack what he sees as the evils of the age. He will also be conciliatory and try to build on and broaden the support demonstrated for the church in recent times, to be a unifying rather than a divisive figure.
Many Vatican watchers seem to have a limited understanding of the dynamic of electoral processes. It would have required on the part of a college almost entirely nominated by Pope John Paul II a great unity of purpose and determination to block the visibly strongest candidate, who presided with authority and eloquence over the formal proceedings of the last few weeks.
Nothing is more identified with secularism than television. Yet it is this medium which has transmitted worldwide the solemn pageantry marking the transition from one papacy to another, intensifying interest and sympathy.
The media focus on the visible leadership of an institution. This reinforces the pre-eminence of Catholicism within worldwide Christianity, compared to churches that have more democratic and participatory forms of organisation. Some even change their leader yearly, ensuring that their churches have no memorable face or voice (not a mistake made, however, by Dr Paisley).
Liberal hand-wringing, mostly in private, was a wonder to behold last Tuesday. It is better, like Breda O'Brien (April 20th), to wait and see, hoping that the new Pope, a veteran of the Vatican II Council (albeit as an adviser), will contribute to improving ecumenical relations, as well as defusing tensions with other world religions, as his predecessor strove to do.
The new Pope's previously expressed opposition to Turkish EU accession, though in line with much Franco-German opinion, would introduce a quasi-religious test for membership, and cut across that objective.
A Christian or post-Christian fortress Europe will not do much for regional peace and stability. If we must think in historical imagery, let us replace the Turks at the gates of Vienna (where they left the legacy of mocha or Turkish coffee) with the cordial relations that many powers, particularly France, enjoyed with the Sublime Porte, as the court of the Ottoman Empire was called in diplomatic usage.
Members of other churches and faiths are outside direct papal jurisdiction. In a country with a history of sectarian tensions, largely abated in this State, some reserve might still be exercised before issuing abrasive personalised comments across denominational divides. Criticism comes best from those within. Yet the papacy is of interest to more than Catholics.
We have been reminded that the word pontiff comes from the Latin, pontifex maximus, a title of the Caesars, meaning greatest bridge-builder. In his first message in Latin to the cardinals, the new Pope affirmed a commitment to carrying out the Second Vatican Council in the spirit of his predecessors and in fruitful continuity with the 2,000-year-old tradition of the church.
In reaffirming his commitment to church unity, he said he would cultivate any initiative appropriate to promote contact and understanding with representatives of different churches and ecclesiastical communities. The primary concern of Dominus Jesus was clear demarcation.
Whether as a step towards greater unity it would be possible to construct some form of inter-church confederation, organised on the lines of the Holy Roman Empire (which latterly included Protestant Electorates) or a commonwealth, should perhaps be a matter for consideration. In a context that preserved the autonomy and traditions of each church or community, many Anglicans, certainly, would be prepared to concede a precedence, which already exists de facto, to the Pope.
At his sermon, prior to the conclave, Cardinal Ratzinger denounced the "dictatorship of relativism"; in effect asserting that faith is a different coinage from prevailing secular norms of thinking, though churches, like royal houses, enjoy society's relativism in being exempted from norms of gender equality.
The example chosen was homosexual marriage, increasingly a live issue here through court proceedings and a private member's bill. Not just the Catholic Church, but the Anglican Communion worldwide, have grave reservations about a development that would put partnerships of all kinds on a par with marriage, although in many cases unable to fulfil some of the most obvious functions of marriage.
The consequence would be to give free rein to the idea that these were every bit as valid and valuable to society and could be vigorously proselytised for as part of the equality agenda.
It is not easy to see a referendum on these lines passing here any time soon.
Outside the Western world, attitudes are tougher, which is not to justify them. The Indian government declared recently that it had no intention of decriminalising homosexuality, as it would be repugnant to public opinion.
In 1921 Pope Benedict XV, who tried to stop the first World War and wanted to save the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy, sent a message to George V on the eve of the Treaty negotiations on October 19th, 1921: "We rejoice at the resumption of the Anglo-Irish negotiations, and pray to the Lord, with all our heart, that He may bless them and grant to your Majesty the great joy and imperishable glory of bringing to an end the age-long dissension". De Valera disputed several points in what he considered the tendentious Lloyd George-drafted reply.
Anglo-Irish relations are much more equal today, not least in their influence with the Vatican. A papal visit to Ireland could certainly help to reinforce peace.