The new pontiff is alternately praised and criticized for his rigid stances on church doctrine.

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 20, 2005

BY JENNIFER LEVITZ
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Rhode Island Catholics, whose numbers make the state the most Catholic state per capita in the country, yesterday expressed strong but mixed opinions on the selection of conservative Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany as the new pope.

Some praised Ratzinger, regarded as a disciplined keeper of Catholic orthodoxy, as someone who will guard church teachings.

Others criticized the choice, saying the 78-year-old Ratzinger is too doctrinaire, and that the church needs more of a shepherd to unify the faithful.

But one prevailing thought mentioned by Rhode Island Catholics yesterday was that the elderly cardinal may just be a transitional pope, who will lead Catholics for the next 5 or 10 years, making no drastic changes, while the church considers its priorities for the next millennium.

By lunchtime yesterday, the news spread. The smoke flowed white from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, signifying a new pope for the first time in more than 26 years.

At St. Francis Chapel & City Ministry in downtown Providence, the Rev. Frank Sevola let his lunch go cold and stood by the TV with his arms crossed.

Father Sevola, 45, watched on TV the balcony at St. Peter's Basilica, where by tradition, a cardinal deacon would appear to announce the new pope. Other priests and chapel workers stood behind sofas, clutching the cushions. "Oh, somebody's peeking out!" someone said.

"The curtains are moving!" Father Sevola agreed.

"Here we go, here we go," he said.

"Come on," Father Sevola urged the TV. "Who is he?"

On TV, the name of the next pope eked out, exasperatingly slow. "Josef. . ."

"Oh, yes!" someone in the room said.

"Oh, no!" said Father Sevola.

"Ratzinger. . ." the TV intoned.

Father Sevola grabbed his head. "I can't believe it."

But his assistant, Christine Hirsh, hustled to the phone. "I'm German, so I'm excited," she said. "I have to call my mom."

Some at this inner-city church, whose mission is to serve the impoverished, had been hoping the next pope would come from a Third World country. Father Sevola said he was simply hoping for a new "spin on the leadership." Cardinal Ratzinger, he noted, had been an enforcer of church orthodoxy. "I was hoping for a more pastoral guy. He's not known as real pastoral."

Elsewhere, Rick Corley, 49, a Providence lawyer, had just heard the news about the pope, which he described as an interim pope of sorts because of his age.

He speculated that cardinals had picked someone who would stabilize the church, "while the church regroups and develops some unifying strategy" to reach out to Catholics worldwide.

At Murphy's Deli & Bar, Beverly Labonte, an employee, had watched the announcement of the new pope on the restaurant's TV. "I was disappointed," said Labonte, 65. "I don't think they should have voted for someone that old, it's like they want to replace him in 10 years."

But David Renner, 66, a Catholic from Barrington, sees a short-term pope as a good thing, a way to "kind of give the church a breather," instead of sudden changes to the teachings of Pope John Paul II. Renner, in fact, saw Cardinal Retzinger as the best choice.

"I was rooting for him more than anybody because I'm kind of a traditionalist, and somewhat conservative, and I'm a proponent of his views as I was with John Paul, so I'm very pleased," he said.

Renner predicted "mixed feelings" among Catholics and said some of his more liberal friends were probably "ballistic" yesterday.

"I think the United States and particularly New England and Rhode Island is liberal and they were probably hoping that the new pope would change some of the culture of the church and that won't happen in my view with the new pope."

Some Catholics, however, do want change, more than on social policies.

Edward Greenan, 66, is the regional coordinator for Voice of the Faithful, a laity organization of Catholics formed during dissatisfaction with the church hierarchy during the sexual abuse scandals.

Voice of the Faithful, which has two chapters in Rhode Island, is concerned about the priest shortage, and about drawing spiritual people to serve, said Greenan, a retired teacher who lives in Jamestown. The group wants more say in how churches are run -- such as the selection of pastors. The laity also wants the church to be more transparent when it comes to its finances, and for the Vatican to address the sexual abuse scandal, which Greenan believes the church hierarchy hasn't adequately done. He hopes the new pope will be a "pope for all Catholics," including those who have concerns.

Joe DiBiase, a Providence Catholic, also wants the new pope to address the sexual abuse scandal. DiBiase, who served as the music director at St. Mary Church in Cranston for 42 years, said, "I hope he is going to straighten out this policy that other pope has kind of ignored. . . where they've been very lenient with pedophiles, looking the other way."

He is particularly upset that Cardinal Bernard Law, the former archbishop of Boston, was given a position in Rome. "So I hope this new German pope will put his foot down . . . and basically clean house."

Joe Connors, a 51-year-old Catholic from East Providence, called the new pope the right one at the right time. Connor's 21-year-old son, a senior at Boston College, was accepted into the priesthood on Easter Sunday.

Connors believes that much church doctrine can't be changed, even by a liberal pope. Those things that can, he said, should transform slowly. He believes, for instance, that priests should be allowed to marry. "I think things can or should change but certainly not at the speed or direction that Americans seem to be looking for."

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