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Analysis: what the Pope's first homily tells us
But his multi-layered complexity and his formidable political skills must be borne in mind when interpreting his first and indeed subsequent homilies, bulls and encyclicals.
In pledging to continue an open and sincere dialogue with other religions, he is doing no less than anyone would expect of a Pope. But it was only a few years back that he dismissed non-Christian religions as "gravely deficient" and other churches, apart from the Orthodox but including the Church of England, as not "proper" churches.
Of course he wants unity. All Christians do - in theory. But most want it on their terms, and the Pope of all people is unlikely to be an exception.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams is to attend the installation of Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday. Among matters he might want to raise with him, if he can get close enough, is whether in the light of this hopeful homily he might care to address an issue outstanding from the end of the 19th century, when in the papal bull Apostolic Curae, Anglican orders were written off as "absolutely null and utterly void".
In other words, in the eyes of the Roman Catholic church, Dr Williams is not actually ordained priest at all. But he is unlikely to get a positive response.
The last Pope could not forgive Anglicanism's ordination of women priests. He turned east, looking more towards unity with the Orthodox - and offending many Russian chuch leaders with his missionary efforts over there. Since the issue of women priests, the work of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (Arcic), which sought to find common ground in areas of doctrine, was put on ice, with one document, on Mary, still to come out.
Publicly they are being welcoming but behind the scenes, Anglican insiders are admitting that under the new Pope, the future for Arcic looks bleak. From being frozen out under John Paul II, they fear that it will probably now go into meltdown and disappear completely. But maybe this homily indicates this need not be the case.
Further, in the recent debate over homosexuals in the
Likewise with other religions. If salvation is believed to be possible only through Christianity, as many traditionalists hold, it must lead to suspicions that the agenda behind moves towards dialogue is conversion. Here, admittedly the whole church - not just the Roman Catholic one - is in difficulty, because after all it is labouring under the "great commission" to go out and bring all the nations to Christ. If a Pope truly believes that a man's mortal soul is in peril unless he is Christian, he is acting in a humanitarian fashion by attempting to convert him. But in the modern era it is just not considered politically correct for Christians to evangelise in this fashion, and in some Islamic states it is illegal. Again, Jewish and other religious leaders have been positive in welcoming the new Pope. So this homily here gives further grounds for hope.
But the most surprising pledge was to work to fulfil the goals of the second Vatican Council, such as towards greater collegiality among bishops.
This is an issue of great concern to bishops around the world, who are dismayed by the way they have been disenfranchised by the centralisation of power that took place under the last Pope. As his henchman, or doctrinal enforcer, the new Pope is widely considered as having been as influential as his predecessor in the process.
Ratzinger has denied in the past that he has ever changed position on issues such as this, but the commentator John Allen has outlined in National Catholic Reporter areas of significant movement.
He points out that at the time of the Second Vatican Council, Ratzinger believed the Church was overly centralised. In the first session of the council in 1963, he described the emergence of "horizontal catholicity" as one of its important achievements with, for example, bishops' conferences having control over local liturgy.
But addressing the bishops of
Allen points out similar developments in his thinking in regard to bishops' conferences, the national gatherings of bishops around the world, and the synod of bishops launched by Paul VI in 1967 to ensure participation by bishops around the world in the church's government. In 1965, Ratzinger saw the synod as a means of continuing the work of the Second Vatican Council. By 1987, he argued that the synod was "not a collegial organ of leadership for the universal church".
That he should alight upon these issues in his first address is significant because it indicates that he is aware of how is appointment is being received. He fulfilling the first duty of a good pastor, he is listening.
He also hints strongly at, if not exactly change, then some form of movement. It is clear from his history that he is capable of progression in his views, even if he can no longer be styled as the progressive he once was. Catholics and millions of interested non-Catholics around the world will be waiting to see whether these first words from the new Pope translate into actions of substance.
