Benedict elected by a wide margin

VATICAN CITY — Members of the College of Cardinals, at pains to keep a strict vow of secrecy on the election of the new prelate, nevertheless indicated that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was the overwhelming favorite to succeed the late Pope John Paul II.

Up to 100 of the 115 electors may have cast ballots in favor of the Bavarian cardinal in Tuesday’s decisive vote in the frescoed Sistine Chapel, said sources quoted by Marco Politi, the respected Vatican correspondent of La Repubblica newspaper.

?In any case, it was an election with the flavor of a plebiscite, with a consensus for the German cardinal that overtook by a long way the required 77 votes and grew irresistibly from the first vote Monday to the final ballot Tuesday afternoon,? La Repubblica said.

In the first conclave vote Monday, Cardinal Ratzinger and Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini — the Jesuit former archbishop of Milan and a candidate for cardinals opposed to Cardinal Ratzinger — had at least the same number of votes, about 40 each, La Repubblica said.

On Tuesday morning, however, many undecided cardinals decided to support Cardinal Ratzinger.

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI yesterday reappointed Cardinal Angelo Sodano as Vatican secretary of state, the No. 2 post of the Holy See, in spite of his 77 years.

Cardinal Sodano resigned the post after John Paul died and had been expected to retire. But Benedict asked him to return to the key position to guarantee continuity in the government of the Roman Catholic Church, Vatican watchers said.

Benedict reappointed officials to other top posts. The only question remaining is who will succeed him in the powerful job that he has held since 1981 of overseeing church doctrine.

The pontiff waved and smiled at crowds gathered along the short stretch between the Vatican gates and his old apartment, where he spent some time in the afternoon.

?Viva il papa,? some shouted. The pope, dressed all in white, raised both hands in a greeting.

His schedule also shows hints of the openness and symbolic gestures that were at the heart of John Paul’s reign: a meeting with journalists tomorrow, an outdoor Mass to formally take the papal throne Sunday and a visit Monday to a church built over the tomb of St. Paul.