By Jesse Serwer
³My brother was ordained a deacon at St. Peter¹s Basilica in 1999, and Cardinal Ratzinger celebrated the ceremony,² Jeanne Mulry of Arlington Avenue recalled of her brief encounter six years ago with the man who is now Pope Benedict XVI. ³When Cardinal Ratzinger processed down the aisle after the ceremony, he broke off from the procession to embrace and bless my young daughter, Rosemary.²
The Most Rev. William Murphy, bishop of the Archdiocese of Rockville Centre, was equally enthusiastic about the German-born Ratzinger¹s election. ³He is Pope John Paul II¹s last gift to us,² Murphy said at a press conference on April 19, hours after the conclave of cardinals emerged from the Vatican with Ratzinger as their choice. ³He is an extraordinary gifted and holy man, and I think he is going to have the best pontificate possible.²
Dozens of parishioners and other well-wishers joined the bishop as he led a Mass for the new pope at St. Agnes Cathedral the following morning. ³It will be a change after 25 years, but I think he will make a great pope,² said Marjorie Bartels of Rockville Centre, one of approximately 100 at the Wednesday-morning Mass.
The first German pope since the 11th century, Ratzinger, who was previously the dean of the College of Cardinals and the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has been both criticized and praised for his conservative adherence to Catholic doctrine, particularly on such issues as abortion, birth control and women in the priesthood. An outspoken critic of radical feminism and homosexuality, he has been criticized by human rights and other groups for failing to aggressively address incidences of pedophilia in the priesthood.
Outside St. Agnes, however, there was nothing but good will for the new pontiff. Patricia Phelan, also of Rockville Centre, called the choice of Ratzinger a ³wonderful selection.²
³I thought it was a great choice,² Phelan said after the Mass. ³He is a follower of John Paul.²
Mulry also said she has high hopes and confidence in Benedict XVI because she saw during her encounter with him many of the same qualities she saw in his predecessor. ³Many people will wonder whether he will have the same Œpeople¹s touch¹ that Pope John Paul II did, but I was able to see that same spirit of joy and love when he greeted and blessed my Rosemary,² she said.
Former Rockville Centre and current Long Beach resident Gary Krupp, founder of the interfaith activist group Pave The Way Foundation, met with Ratzinger at the Vatican just under three months ago. ³He was very gentle and gracious, and he was interested in the intellect behind many of the gestures that our organization has made,² said Krupp, who met frequently with Pope John Paul II in the last few years before his death and is one of only seven Jews ever to receive the papal honor of Knight Commander in the Order of St. Gregory the Great.
While he wasn¹t in Rome for Benedict¹s installation last Sunday, Krupp is confident that, based on his meeting with the then cardinal in February, he and the Pave The Way Foundation will continue to have an open invitation to the Vatican. ³The cardinal¹s secretary told me he was interested in the work that [Pave The Way] does, and that he would like to see me when I was in Rome,² recalled Krupp, who in January headed the largest delegation of Jewish leaders to ever receive an audience at the Vatican. ³By accident, he scheduled an appointment for me during a week I was in Israel, and I got a call that Cardinal Ratzinger was waiting for me while I was there. I was very upset ‹ this was the second-most-important man in the Vatican, and now he¹s the pope. Can you imagine standing him up?² The future pontiff gladly rescheduled, and the two men had a ³warm and gratifying meeting² a week later.
Krupp said he is actually encouraged by the 78-year-old Ratzinger¹s experiences as a youth in Nazi Germany. ³He told everyone that he was drafted into Hitler Youth as a young boy, but upon discovering their motives he resigned, and also that he was drafted into the army and escaped, as did his father,² Krupp said. ³He was hunted down because he would not fight. That history of being involved with the Nazi Party and discovering their evils makes him a far greater advocate to the Jewish people than had he not gone through that experience. Just like how John Paul witnessed the Nazi occupation in Poland, it adds a dimension of understanding to [Benedict].²
Krupp will return to Rome in May to meet with several high-level ministers regarding the ongoing effort to establish diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Israel. ³I hope to be able to meet with [Ratzinger] again now that he is pope,² he said.
Comments about this story? JSerwer@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 221.
