The following editorial appeared in the Aftenposten, Oslo, Norway, April 24:

The selection of Joseph Ratzinger as the new pope has been met with both joy and resignation. Joy because Ratzinger, the new Pope Benedict XVI, is respected, learned and clearly capable. … Resignation because he is seen as a man of yesterday.

Benedict XVI wants reconciliation with all churches, and dialogue with all religions, right and needed bridge-building in a globalized world. If we are to judge by his past, he will also carry on the late pope’s conservative view of women and homosexuality, his hardheaded opposition to contraception and abortion, as well as his determined defense of celibacy.

Questions like these put the church at odds with widespread beliefs in the West and have caused a shortage of priests in many places. The big challenge will be to make the connection to broad, secular currents in a way that make the church’s insistence on its own values and beliefs more relevant for more people than today.

It will be exciting to see whether Joseph Ratzinger as pope will live in the shadow of John Paul II, or if he will grow beyond it.