Archbishop Buechlein reacts with joy to election of Pope Benedict XVI

By Brandon A. Evans

Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein was gathered with clergy and parish life coordinators at a business meeting in Bloomington when word reached him of white smoke and bells at the Vatican on April 19.

It was a moment that was the effective end of the meeting, as television was wheeled out and the new pope Benedict XVI was announced.

“I was very moved,” the archbishop said. “And as soon as they said ‘Joseph’ I knew it was Cardinal Ratzinger.”

The archbishop has a personal connection to the new Holy Father—they first had an extended meeting when they worked on the Catechism of the Catholic Church together. Archbishop Buechlein was the head of the bishop’s committee on its implemenation.

That, he said, plus his own German background and name made him a familiar face to then-Cardinal Ratzinger, who is also German.

“I met him on the street and he knew exactly who I was,” Archbishop Buechlein said.

After receiving word of the election, the archbishop headed back to Indianapolis to immediately begin meeting with the press.

In an interview with the Associated Press, the archbishop had kind things to say of the new pope.

While he acknowledged that some Catholics may disapprove of the cardinals’ choice, that the great number of Catholics will be pleased that they again have a pope.

Those who have criticized him as too harsh don’t really know him, the archbishop said.

“He’s a humble man—very gentle, very patient,” he said. “He’ll talk with anyone who stops him in the street.”

Pope Benedict XVI’s former job as the Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith put him in the role of chief defender of our beliefs.

“He did that with strength, but never with a mean spirit,” Archbishop Buechlein said.

“He’s certainly one of the greatest theologians—remember, he was one of the young theologians in the Second Vatican Council,” he said. The hand of the new pope can be seen in the various decrees and documents of that council, he added.

The archbishop also mentioned that this summer he will be leading a group of 170 youth, young adults and chaperones on a pilgrimage to Rome, Assisi and Cologne, Germany for World Youth Day 2005.

It is an event that, given the German background of the new pope, will probably now be immensely popular—and that the new pope will surely attend.

He’s probably already got his ticket,” the archbishop said. “I’m sure he’ll carry on the love that John Paul II had for our youth.”

As a Benedictine himself, the archbishop said he is pleased that the new pope took the name of St. Benedict.

“Benedict is the patron of Europe,” he said, and at the same time he and his monastic life are considered foundation to the civilization of modern Europe.

With the secularization of Europe already on the mind of Pope Benedict XVI, the archbishop speculated that these reasons may have contributed to his choosing of the name.

“But also, I think it was a way to distinguish his papacy from … the last pope,” he said.

When asked how this pope will stand in relation to Pope John Paul II, he asserted that this pope will certainly uphold the doctrinal legacy and ministry of the late pontiff, but will bring his own style.

“And that is because he was such a key figure in the administration of John Paul II, and yet he’s his own person,” the archbishop said of Benedict XVI. “I think he can counted on to stay the course, and at the same time, to bring his own unique aura of holiness to the papacy.” †