Roman Catholics in Pakistan have warmly hailed the election of new pope Benedict XVI and they vow in his first mass to promote inter-religion harmony. "The pledge of the new pope is indeed heart-warming and augurs well for mankind's unity at a time when many people talk of a clash of civilisations," said John David, a prominent Christian leader. Haroon Nasir, Research Associate, Christian Study Center Rawalpindi, said Pope John Paul was famous for reaching out to other faiths, and there is reason to hope that his successor will continue that tradition. Though Pope Benedict XVI has his own worries from growing Evangelical Churches, especially in Roman Catholic diocese, but he can and will certainly play his role towards global peace, he said.
Pope Benedict XVI has rejected the ordination of women and marriage for priest, and also opposes homosexuality and communism, and he has never been afraid of upsetting political sensibilities.
Prominent Christian educationist Roger Francis, senior teacher of English St. Mary's Academy in Rawalpindi said: "The new pope is the continuation of the legacy of Pope John Paul II and his very close association with his predecessor as the most influential man in the Vatican has been one of the reasons for being elected as his successor."
The new Pope speaks many languages, including German, Spanish, Italian, English, French and Latin. He is a very good musician and plays the piano. His favourite musicians are Mozart and Beethoven.
Soon after his election, when addressing the faithful from his window for the first time as Pope Benedict XVI, he declared himself as a humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord.
"I hope to be a man of peace," he declared. "Giving in to modernism," he says, "is like going from one extreme to the other, from Marxism to Liberalism, from atheism to a vague religious mysticism." In a pre-conclave mass, he warned, "We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognise anything as definitive and has as its highest value one's own ego and one's own desires." Although a very staunch leader, and that is what is expected of a good leader, Benedict has been very active in promoting dialogue with leaders of other faiths encouraging reconciliation and a better understanding of each other.
He is in favour of inter-faith dialogue based on equal human-dignity. His views on abortion are also not hidden from anyone.
According to him, in the US presidential election 2004, anyone voting for the candidate supporting abortion and euthanasia would be co-operating in evil.
He has drawn lines in the sand and wielded the tools of his office on many who cross these lines. He is a warm hearted and congenial man. He possesses a good sense of humour too. He is a highly refined, calm and open-minded person.
He is a very pious man and always sneaks out of his tight schedule to say his daily prayers.
Simple to such an extent that most of his 18 years in Rome, he has daily walked to work usually unnoticed by people in the streets of Vatican.
"Despite his high profile in the Church's intellectual and professional classes, he is really a humble man who will be remembered as one of the greatest popes of our time," Roger Francis said.
The Roman Catholic community in Pakistan also fondly recalls the memories of the historic visit of the late Pope to Pakistan.
John Paul spent a few hours in Karachi on February 16, 1981 on his way to the Philippines and Japan. "I vividly recall the great spiritual moments when he was amidst us," said a Karachi resident David Francis.
"He is no more physically present but he lives and would ever live in our hearts," said another man who attended the late Pope's mass in Karachi at the National Stadium.
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