Benedict vows to work for global reconciliation

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI pledged yesterday to carry on the work of Pope John Paul II by working “tirelessly” for reconciliation between Christians and the world’s other religions, calling this his “primary commitment” as pontiff.

“I address myself to everyone with simplicity and affection, to assure them that the church wants to continue to hold a sincere and open dialogue with them, in the search of the true good for man and society,” the Bavarian theologian said.

His remarks, described by an American cardinal as the new pope’s “state of the union address,” were intended for followers of other religions or, as Benedict said, “those who simply seek a reply to the fundamental questions of existence and still have not found it.”

Speaking in Latin in a message delivered at the end of his first Mass since his election Tuesday, Benedict, 78, promised he would strive for continuity with the pontificate of the immensely popular John Paul, who died April 2.

His remarks, delivered in the Sistine Chapel, evoked an eloquence that Vatican watchers said was designed to allay concern about his strict adherence to church doctrine in his former position as leader of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

“Demonstrations of good feeling” are not enough to reconcile differences between Christians, he said. “Concrete gestures” are needed as well as a “purification of memory, as invoked so many times by John Paul II.

“I pray to God for unity and peace for the human family and declare the willingness of all Catholics to cooperate for an authentic social development, respectful of the dignity of each human being.

“I will spare no energy or dedication to pursue the promising dialogue started by my venerated predecessors with the different civilizations, so that reciprocal understanding may bring a better future for everyone.”

One challenge facing Benedict will be to maintain friendly relations with other religions that he upset as the Vatican’s chief of doctrine.

The reaction was strongest from Protestants still offended by his document “Dominus Iesus” [Lord Jesus] in 2000 that dismissed their denominations as “not proper churches.”

In the United States, the Rev. Ted Haggard, head of the National Association of Evangelicals, said Pope John Paul II had tried to soften the impact of “Dominus Iesus” after it caused such upset.

“Now that [Cardinal Joseph] Ratzinger is the pontiff, it could potentially go in the wrong direction,” he said on the religion Web site Beliefnet. “We don’t have the confidence this pope understands the global nature of the church.”

The new pope’s message brought an immediate response from Catholic traditionalists supporting the late Marcel Lefebvre, the rebel bishop who broke with the Vatican over the abolition of the compulsory Latin Mass and other reforms.

The election of Benedict presents “hope to emerge from the profound crisis troubling the Catholic Church,” said Monsignor Bernard Fellay, the superior general of the Fraternity of Pius X, a group of the breakaway traditionalists.

In Moscow, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexis II sent a conciliatory message to the new Roman Catholic leader.

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