Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service) - At the time of Cardinal Ratzinger’s election as Pope, Abbot Notker Wolf Primate of Confederated Benedictines since 2000, in Mexico at the time, was surprised at the choice of the name Benedict XVI . “Surprised but very pleased - Abbot Notker told Fides -; as soon as I heard the name I was overjoyed”. The Abbot said the choice of the name reveals the new Pope’s special love for the Benedictines. “In Bavaria - said Abbot Wolf - there are seventeen Benedictine monasteries. Clearly as a boy Joseph Ratzinger must have breathed the ‘perfume of Benedict' and the choice of his name was an act of love. The name Benedict speaks of Europe’s Christian roots. Benedict is one of Europe’s patrons of and the choice of his name would appear to indicate that this Pope intends to place the re-evangelisation of the old continent at the centre of his pontificate”.
“I endorse the homily given by the then Cardinal Ratzinger at the Mass for the opening of the Conclave in which he warned that the greatest danger facing the Church was the dictatorship of relativism. This is true above all in Europe and Pope Benedict XVI is well aware that the first continent in need of new evangelisation is Europe”. (P.L.R.) (Agenzia Fides 21/04/2005 - Righe 14; Parole 192)
