In St. Peter's Square, Optimism and Concern

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/international/worldspecial2/10cnd-scene.html?hp&ex=1113969600&en=7621121f5a528fde&ei=5094&partner=homepage

The tens of thousands gathered in anticipation, shouted "Brava, Brava" when Cardinal Jorge Medina Estévez announced, "We have a new pope."

But the reaction was decidedly mixed when Cardinal Ratzinger's name was announced. Some slapped and shouted jubilantly. But an equal number stood by silently and listened. A small number of people wandered out of the square as he spoke.

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"I am very, very upset because I was hoping for a more open pope, one who was more open to the problems of the world," said Paolo Tasselli, a retired bank worker and a practicing Catholic, who said he had hoped the church would give more rights to women and be more involved in social issues.

He said he had loved Pope John Paul II, who he felt was conservative on some issues but "open to the world" in many other ways. He said of the new pope, "I don't think this new one can do that."

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One theologian, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, called Cardinal Ratzinger "John Paul II, without the imagination."

Many others seemed simply perplexed with a choice they saw as moving the church backward. John Paul II, they said, seemed inclined to move the church into the real world. Benedict XVI, they felt, would return to a focus on narrow dogma and doctrine.

"In the German context, he's perceived of as very conservative and has struggled with the German bishops and German Catholics a lot," said Florian Mussgnug, a German who is teaching at a university here.

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