Press give new Pope wary welcome

There's only one show in town for Europe's press on Wednesday - the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who becomes Pope Benedict XVI and the new head of 1.1 billion Roman Catholics worldwide.

Habemus Papam

The Vatican's L'Osservatore Romano publishes a special edition which, the paper says on its web site, "went to press within minutes of the announcement in St Peter's Square".

The headlines, in Latin, start with the traditional proclamation, "Habemus Papam", "We have a pope".

The front page shows a photograph of a smiling Benedict XVI, greeting the faithful in St Peter's Square with open arms.

France's conservative Le Figaro, which also fills its front page with a picture of a smiling and open-armed pontiff, carries a special 6-page supplement.

It describes Joseph Ratzinger as "the champion of the conservative camp".

With this choice the Catholic Church need not fear being accused of originality Liberation

"The new pontiff," it adds, "is faced with the difficult task of succeeding... the first pope of the era of globalisation whose extraordinary charisma concealed the fragility of the Catholic Church in a changing world."

Its left-of-centre fellow-Parisian Liberation opts for a photo of Benedict XVI looking sideways at one of his (invisible) companions on the balcony, a look which might be construed as either anxious or mischievous - and is most likely neither.

The headline beside the front page photograph is a play on words on the expression "a backwards step", and reads, literally, "A backwards pope".

"With this choice," the paper says, "the Catholic Church need not fear being accused of originality."

"In the area of dialogue with other branches of Christianity," says Le Monde, "the new pope inherits a complicated legacy."

It points out that since the return of freedom of religion to the former "Soviet empire", Catholics "have often been accused of proselytising by the Orthodox Churches of central Europe".

New Pope preserves Church's identity

Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung says the new Pope, Benedict XVI, stands for continuity but will have to embrace reforms to avoid leading the Catholic Church into a dead end.

"He stands for a Church which has a clear profile and is preserving its identity", the paper says.

"Identity, solidarity, reform - these three belong together," it says, adding that "a Pope who merely emphasises identity will lead his church into a dead end".

Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says the great degree of unanimity among the cardinals who elected Joseph Ratzinger as the new Pope shows that they want him to unite the Church.

"The fact that Ratzinger is from Germany was in the end not an argument against him but for him," the paper adds.

"This German - that is another message of this conclave - poses no danger to the Church," it says.

Germany's mass-circulation paper Bild also highlights the new Pope's nationality.

It recalls that there was jubilation "in St Peter's Square, in the entire world, and especially here in Germany" when "the German" appeared on a balcony overlooking the square.

"What an honour!" it exclaims.

Germany's Die Welt says "there couldn't have been a greater honour for Christians in Germany" and "Europe could not have been given any greater weight" than through Joseph Ratzinger's election.

Austria's Die Presse, however, says Joseph Ratzinger's election will cause controversy.

It adds that the new Pope faces a disadvantage in the age of global media networks because his public appearances are marked by "a certain degree of aloofness".

New helmsman takes Church's tiller

Poland's Rzeczpospolita says Joseph Ratzinger had a "black legend in the media" as a "hunter of deviations from orthodoxy" and was "rarely mentioned as a candidate for Pope".

Hungary's Nepszabadsag says the new pope will have to work in the shadow of the late John Paul II.

"Pope John Paul II has a very long shadow. And the Roman Catholic Church will certainly not be able to escape from it for a wile."

"Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) himself has been part of this shadow," the paper concludes.

Denmark's Politiken says the cardinals' choice was both "expected" and "feared".

However, Sweden's Expressen says that Joseph Ratzinger "often had to dress his Pope's conservative convictions up in words".

"But he certainly won't become a liberal who will be to the taste of secularised Europe", it predicts.

"However, you could wish that the Pope, who is said to have a large well of empathy, could close his eyes for a moment and imagine that he was a woman. African. Sixteen years old. Poor. Married to an HIV-infected man.

"Imagine it and find a way of making her life dignified with violating God's word", the paper challenges.

New pope to bale out church

Croatia's Vecernji List recalls that the new Pope has likened the Catholic Church to a "boat letting water in from all sides".

"It is obvious that with these words he has offered yet another proof of his will to steer the Church steadily on its fundamental path," the daily says.

Croatia's Vjesnik believes that "the fact that Ratzinger was elected after just two days and four votes demonstrates that the conservatives did not encounter fierce opposition and that the reasons for which Ratzinger used to be criticised in the past were quickly forgotten."

Serbia's Blic reports that the election of Joseph Ratzinger was mainly influenced by his words just before the start of the conclave.

He urged the 114 cardinals to defend the Catholic Church from modern trends.

"We are moving towards the dictatorship of relativism which does not recognise that the most supreme virtues are distinctive," it quotes him as saying.

Russia's Gazeta warns that "the choice of the conclave does not bode a speedy solution of differences between the Moscow Patriarchy and Vatican."

"Ratzinger has lately been at the head of the trend which complicated relations between Vatican and Moscow," it adds.

"He was an inspiration behind the ideological expansion of the Catholic Church to the territories which have been the domain of the Russian Orthodox Church for the past 1,000 years."

"Patriarch Aleksiy II expressed the hope several days ago that the new pontificate may reconcile the two churches," the paper recalls, adding that now this hope seems "very shaky".

The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions.