POPE BENEDICT XVI

When the College of Cardinals gathered this week to choose a new pope, two qualifications must have always been on their minds: charisma and conservatism. The man who was chosen, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, certainly possesses the latter. Whether he has enough of the former will determine his legacy as the 265th head of the Catholic church.

Although some Catholics in America and Europe expressed dismay at the choice of Cardinal Ratzinger over more liberal candidates, they should not have been surprised. While the percentage of Catholics in North America and Europe has declined in recent decades, the faith is growing in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This is where three-quarters of the world’s Catholics will reside in 2025, according to the World Christian Encyclopedia. Where Catholicism is gaining adherents, the doctrine and faith are of a conservative bent.

“The Catholic faith that is rising rapidly in Africa and Asia looks very much like a pre-Vatican II faith,” Philip Jenkins, a professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University, wrote in “The Next Christianity,” which was published in the fall of 2002 in The Atlantic Monthly.

“African Catholicism … is far more comfortable with the notions of authority and spiritual charisma than with newer ideas of consultation and democracy,” Professor Jenkins added.

So when Cardinal Ratzinger spoke against the dangers of relativism and the need for “a clear faith, based on the creed of the church” in a fiery homily just before the start of the papal conclave, he was talking to the faithful in the global South.

Much to the chagrin of the more liberal North, which includes Europe and North America, the future holds a strict interpretation of doctrine. Allowing priests to marry, giving women greater roles in the church and liberalizing policies on birth control are not on the agenda. They are replaced by a clear sense of order and righteousness, values espoused by Pope Benedict XVI, who comes from a conservative part of Germany.

Pope John Paul II did not support liberalizing policies either. However, his incredible charisma and worldwide travels led even those who disagreed with his policies to profess their love for the pontiff. It is too much to expect Pope Benedict XVI to rival his predecessor in popularity, but if he falls far short, his policies are likely to gain more critical scrutiny. A close associate of Pope John Paul II for more than two decades, Pope Benedict XVI must continue his predecessor’s work of strengthening the ties between differing faiths, especially Christianity and Islam.

He must also master the difficult task of defending strict church policies against the suffering that sometimes results. The church, for example, has failed to reconcile its strict prohibition on birth control with the ravages of the AIDS virus.

It is telling that expert commentators are already saying that Pope Benedict XVI, who is 78, will be a transitional leader, a label the new pontiff is already trying to shed. Even if his tenure is short, the new pontiff will help determine whether regional differences are bridged or broadened and will shape the church’s role in global politics.