My Life and Times

Jake Price for The New York Times

In preparation for Pope Benedict XVI's first mass as pope workers unloaded chairs in St. Peter's Square Thursday. Because it is the first mass of Benedict's papacy tens of thousands are expected to attend.

A Swift Surge That Defied Expectations
By DANIEL J. WAKIN

ROME, April 20 - Joseph Ratzinger of Germany became Pope Benedict XVI in rapid fashion, surging to election in a scant four votes over less than 24 hours of conclave.

How it happened began to emerge Wednesday, once the cardinals who chose him left the secret gathering and were no longer bound by an order not to make public comments, a condition imposed by Cardinal Ratzinger himself the week before it started.

Just exactly how Benedict came to be elected is, naturally, a secret, given the strict oaths to keep the proceedings private, as demanded by Pope John Paul II. Cardinals who spoke to reporters afterward stuck by their oath.

However, it was his commanding performance in the weeks leading up to the conclave that helped seal his election, several cardinals said Wednesday.

His deep knowledge of the Vatican bureaucracy, linguistic ability and intellectual heft also played important roles, the cardinals said in interviews and news conferences. Cardinal Ratzinger was widely believed to be a leading vote-getter going in, but some Vatican analysts and prelates thought he had only a modest chance of election. They cited his age, 78, and reputation for divisiveness. Most thought he would swing his votes to a fellow conservative.

But the cardinals defied those expectations.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, archbishop of Westminster, said he was "not altogether surprised" by the outcome.

"I think everyone knew that of those who might be created pope, he who was formerly Cardinal Ratzinger was a very strong candidate, notwithstanding age or anything else," he said.

In picking Cardinal Ratzinger, the cardinals were clearly drawn to his defense of traditional Roman Catholic doctrine in the face of what he called the "dictatorship of relativism," or shifting winds of belief in a secular society, during the conclave-opening Mass on Monday. His election also indicated that they believed shoring up the fundamentals of the faith was a main priority, despite extensive discussion among the cardinals about the church's needs in Latin America and elsewhere outside Europe.

But it was also his dignified celebration of John Paul's funeral Mass on April 8, his guiding hand at the cardinals' daily meetings during the period between popes and the pre-conclave Mass that helped convince the cardinals. He fulfilled those roles as dean of the College of Cardinals.

"I think he showed great leadership quality, which must obviously have influenced what people thought about him," said Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier of South Africa.

Under John Paul, Cardinal Ratzinger was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for nearly 25 years, in effect serving as the guardian of orthodoxy. He had broad authority to punish errant theologians and rule on many aspects of church life.

Cardinal Napier said that many of the 115 cardinal electors had been well aware of Cardinal Ratzinger's reputation as a hard-line corrector of error, or might even have seen it up close. But in recent weeks they had a chance to experience his "gently humble" aspect, as well as a willingness to work with other cardinals in a collegial way.

"Probably many of us did not know that side of Cardinal Ratzinger," he said. "That's a side of his character that the job he was doing before did not allow much scope to."

Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara of Venezuela agreed that Cardinal Ratzinger's performance after John Paul's death had been of critical importance.

"He did it very well, with great serenity, much tact and also much humility," Cardinal Castillo was quoted as saying by the Turin daily La Stampa. Benedict's abilities in English, French and Italian and experience in the Curia helped. That he was one of only three cardinal electors chosen by Pope Paul VI (John Paul chose the rest during his long tenure) gave him "great credit before the world," Cardinal Castillo said.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna, said, "You can deduce that we were convinced that he was the man God had indicated to us."

Comments by cardinals before the conclave and comments by their aides, analysis by papal historians and reports by astute Italian "vaticanisti," or Vatican press specialists, can give hints about what happened inside the Sistine Chapel, where the cardinals were locked in Monday afternoon with Michelangelo's frescoes and the task of electing a spiritual leader for 1.1 billion Catholics.

Most agreed that Cardinal Ratzinger entered the conclave as the man with most support, perhaps 30 to 50 votes out of the necessary two-thirds, or 77.

At the first vote Monday night, it must have become clear that his position was strong enough to be a viable candidacy. With the votes read out loud during the balloting, the progress of Cardinal Ratzinger's candidacy must have been apparent. The two ballots on Tuesday morning increased his lead, and he was elected on the fourth.

"That is certainly a very evident sign of great concord and agreement about what God's will indicated to us," Cardinal Schönborn said.

Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor gave some insight into how the votes flowed. "You say, 'For the good of the church, this man seems to be the one that most of the cardinals want,' " he said. "If a cardinal has another view, he would say, 'Maybe they are right, and for the unity of the church and what I see is right, I will maybe change my vote and vote for him.' "

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago said at a news conference that the choice "was clear almost from the beginning."

A more detailed analysis is almost impossible to present with any certainty, but that did not stop the vaticanisti.

Several said that the opposition to Cardinal Ratzinger by the generally more progressive cardinals lacked unity, and that seeing his strength, those cardinals wanted to avoid a drawn-out conclave that would have signaled a divided church.

Marco Politi of La Repubblica suggested that support had been coalescing around Cardinal Ratzinger as early as Christmas, given the sense that John Paul's health was taking a serious turn for the worse.

Going into the conclave, Cardinal Ratzinger had active help in mustering votes from powerful cardinals of the Roman Curia in charge of major departments, including Darío Castrillón Hoyos, Alfonso López Trujillo and Julián Herranz, a priest member of the conservative lay group Opus Dei. Giovanni Battista Re, Crescenzio Sepe and Angelo Sodano were also mentioned as Ratzinger backers, perhaps in the second round.

Several of these may have done some active campaigning Monday night, after the first ballot, Corriere della Sera reported. Cardinal Schönborn may have also helped the candidacy. He is another Ratzinger follower and, as archbishop of Vienna, a prelate with strong East European contacts.

The tipping point came, Mr. Politi wrote, when two crucial Italians - Camillo Ruini, John Paul's longtime vicar for Rome, and Angelo Scola, the patriarch of Venice, who himself was often mentioned as a candidate - threw their support Cardinal Ratzinger's way. Cardinal Scola had worked in Cardinal Ratzinger's congregation.

The prospect of a drawn-out battle scared off the liberal opposition, and their leader, Carlo Maria Martini, sent his votes to Cardinal Ratzinger, Mr. Politi suggested. Cardinal Martini may have had an inkling of what might be ahead. On the weekend before the conclave, a priest who had seen him said in an interview, Cardinal Martini appeared distressed.

Sometime late Tuesday afternoon - probably between 5 and 5:30 p.m., given the procedures that would have been followed and the timing of the smoke announcing that a pope had been selected - Cardinal Ratzinger reached the 77 votes needed for election. The cardinals gasped, and then clapped, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor recounted. Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Germany burst out crying, he told The Associated Press.

The new pope had his head bowed, and was probably praying.

"He couldn't have been unaware," Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said, "that this was quite likely to happen."



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