Appointment of Pope Benedict sits uneasily with Arabs
4/25/2005 2:00:00 PM GMT

Reaction to the new Pope has been decidedly split into two camps; those who welcomed his Papacy and those who were bitterly disappointed with the appointment.

In the U.S., the polarisation of opinion over the new Pope is very much pronounced. In a country home to 79 million Catholics, the sight of the new head of the Vatican was “their worst
nightmare come true”, according to Professor Scott Appleby, an expert on Catholicism in the US. While Catholic commentator, Andrew Sullivan, predicts that the disillusioned faithful will leave the Church en masse. “The Ratzingerians want to empty the pews in America and start over,” he argues.

However, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger impressed even his fiercest American critics with his record on disciplining paedophile priests. In a country where the Church has been devastated by child-sex abuse scandals, the Cardinal’s reputation as an “enforcer” could appeal to both liberals and conservatives.

Europe’s 280m Catholics are also divided. >>>continued

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