Benedict XVI in perspective

In March 2005, when it became clear that Pope John Paul II would soon die, Boris Johnson asked me to write a piece for The Spectator predicting who would be chosen as the next pope. With no special insight into the minds of the cardinals, I ran through the possibilities that had been mentioned in the press — an African such as the Nigerian Cardinal Arinze, a South American such as Cardinal Claudio Hummes, a Frenchman such as Jean-Marie Lustiger, the Archbishop of Paris — but concluded that the best candidate would be the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Josef Cardinal Ratzinger.

At the time it seemed unlikely that he would be chosen. His role as the guardian of orthodoxy had made him unpopular with liberal Catholics and Anglicans who favoured intercommunion. He was the bête noir of progressive secularists for his strictures on condoms and Liberation Theology; and, aged 77, he was thought too old. However, at the funeral of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger gave an impressive address outlining the challenges faced by the Church. Many of the cardinals were no doubt persuaded that the man capable of such a clear diagnosis should now deal with the disease.

Has Pope Benedict shown himself to be up to the job? Over the long history of the Roman Catholic Church, there have been popes like Gregory the Great who were inspired administrators, and others who were not. Pope Benedict XVI had little experience in governance; he had served for only a short time as Archbishop of Munich and ran a small staff at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. From the start of his pontificate, he was clearly determined to delegate the more mundane duties of his ministry to others, in particular his prime minister, the Secretary of State.