Locals mixed on Ratzinger

News that conservative Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was chosen today as the new pope was met with both disappointment and hope in the Seattle area.

"I hope God's will is in control because this is not the choice I would have made," said Tommy Howard, a 22-year-old senior at Seattle University, who spent the morning on his laptop perusing online news reports.

Howard had hoped a Latin American cardinal, someone progressive with an understanding of poverty and the AIDS epidemic, could have led the first papacy of the new millennium.

"I'd rather see someone who is in touch with today's issues, rather than someone trying to hold on to some dead theology," he said. Noting that it took mere hours — instead of days or weeks — to elect a new pope, Howard said he "would have liked to see a little more discussion over the creation of our Holy Father."

For Father Michael Bayard, a priest who performs ministry on the campus of the Jesuit university, the selection of Ratzinger "in some ways feels like a step backwards" for the church, especially given Ratzinger's earlier pronouncements against women in the church and homosexuality. But a friend provided comforting words, Bayard said, reminding him "we are a people of hope."

"We're people of faith and we have to trust this is the right choice," he said, "so let's give him the benefit of the doubt."

Students who gathered in a third-floor lounge in the student center to watch television footage of Pope Benedict XVI emerging onto a balcony above St. Peter's Square "were very engaged" in the proceedings, said Darlene DuBose, the school's director of multi-cultural affairs.

"You could have heard a pin drop until they actually announced a name," said DuBose, a Charismatic Pentecostal who watched TV with a small group of students, both Catholics and non-Catholics.

"I'd like to think that the Holy Spirit moved through the people who voted in the election. I trust that if this was the Spirit's choice, this will be the best person to lead the Catholic Church."

In Kirkland, Tammy Bendix, a 37-year-old interior designer and member of Seattle's St. Joseph Church, said she was thrilled by Ratzinger's election.

"I believed the Holy Spirit has guided them to the right person," said Bendix, who supports church doctrine in areas like birth control and priestly celibacy.

"The fact that he was so quickly selected really affirms the church's stance in the support of its teachings, plain and simple. I think that's the biggest thing to me and the thing I'm most thrilled about.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com