Vatican City, Jul 5, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The New York Times reported this week that many former critics of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger are warming up to the man once called the “Vatican’s pit bull,” since his becoming Pope Benedict XVI last spring.
“Supporters and skeptics alike”, wrote Ian Fischer, “say Benedict is revealing himself as a man more complicated, subtle and personally warm than many had expected from his years as the Vatican's defender of the faith.”
The article noted that while Pope Benedict hasn’t backed down on crucial issues of Catholic teaching like homosexuality, contraception and abortion, making him extremely appealing to orthodox Catholics, more dissenting Catholics have been surprised by the Holy Father’s softness and emphasis on God’s love.
Rev. Keith F. Pecklers, a Jesuit professor at the Rome’s Gregorian Pontifical University told the Times, "I have been pleasantly surprised by what we have seen thus far…What strikes me is that he is clearly a man of deep prayer and spirituality. He is very intelligent, a good theologian. And he is very humble. He clearly does not want to call attention to himself."