Benedict XVI, whose inaugural mass as Bishop of Rome today is expected to be attended by half a million people, has held meetings with representatives of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), according to Archbishop John Hepworth, the group’s primate.

The TAC represents more than 400,000 Anglicans around the world who have either left their church or are protesting against its liberal policies. It is estimated that 400-500 Church of England parishes may support the group in the long term.

“We are looking at a church which would retain an Anglican liturgy, Anglican spirituality and a married clergy,” said Hepworth, a serving Anglican bishop in Adelaide, Australia. “We dream of this happening soon.” One such community exists in America but so far there are only 14 parishes.

Any hint of a pact between the TAC and Benedict — who has maintained his interest in the group over the past 10 years — would alarm Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and undermine his efforts to maintain the unity of Anglicanism amid squabbles over whether to ordain female bishops or homosexual priests.

Details of the Pope’s links with Hepworth’s group emerged as several cardinals described the initial reluctance of the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to become leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics.

An account of the hours before and during his election in the Sistine Chapel, pieced together from interviews with six cardinals from various countries, shows Ratzinger plagued by doubts about his personal ability, age and health.

When he was offered greetings by the 114 other cardinals on his 78th birthday last weekend Ratzinger, aware of media speculation that he was the frontrunner, replied: “Let us ask God not to impose on us tasks which are beyond us.”

Shortly afterwards, Rosalio Castillo Lara, a Venezuelan cardinal too old at 82 to take part in the conclave, approached Ratzinger, an old friend, and told him: “If I were in the conclave, I would give my vote to you. I pray you, in the name of God, do not refuse if you are elected.”

Ratzinger replied: “No, no, they won’t elect me. Don’t worry.” Lara said many other cardinals made similar appeals.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, formerly Ratzinger’s right-hand man at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, confided: “Ratzinger told me that when he went into the conclave he wasn’t thinking at all that he would become Pope. He absolutely didn’t want it, and he didn’t think he would get it.”

In the first vote on Monday, Ratzinger received about 40 votes, while Carlo Maria Martini, an Italian, got more than 30. Others including Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, Claudio Hummes of Brazil, and Dionigi Tettamanzi, another Italian, each received a handful.

That night Ratzinger returned to his small room in Saint Martha’s House, where the members of the conclave slept. “He was before God. He prayed in the chapel and abandoned himself to God,” Lara said.

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