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Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected the first German pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church in almost five centuries on Tuesday. Describing himself as "a simple and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord," he chose to be called Benedict XVI.

Ratzinger, who turned 78 on Saturday, was one of Pope John Paul II's closest aides. A conservative who served as head of the Vatican office that enforces church doctrine, he was dubbed "the great inquisitor" by his critics.

The German prelate had been considered the front-runner to succeed the Polish-born John Paul, who died on April 2. Ratzinger's 114 fellow cardinal-electors chose him on their fourth ballot, less than 24 hours after they opened their conclave. At least 77 votes, a two-thirds majority, were required for election.

A slight, white-haired figure wearing a short red cape and wine and gold stole over his white soutane, the new pope stepped smiling through red velvet curtains onto the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica shortly before 7 p.m.

He threw his arms wide and clasped his hands above his head. "Dear brothers and sisters," Ratzinger said, "after the great Pope John Paul II, the signor cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord."

Tens of thousands of Romans and pilgrims had gathered in St. Peter's Square despite a light rain. The crowd warmly applauded the new pope's greeting, but clapped and cheered longer and louder when he evoked John Paul.

"The fact that the Lord works and acts even with insufficient instruments consoles me and above all I trust in your prayers," Ratzinger said. "We go forward in the joy of the risen Lord, trusting in his permanent aid. The Lord will help us and Mary, his most holy mother, will be at our side."

The new leader of the world's more than 1 billion Catholics then gave his first "urbi et orbi" blessing to the people of Rome and the world. Popes traditionally deliver the blessing at Christmas and Easter.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said that Benedict returned to the Domus Santa Marta, where he and the other 114 cardinals attending the conclave had been sequestered since Sunday night. He dined with them and spent the night there instead of moving immediately into the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace.

On Wednesday morning, he celebrated Mass in Latin with the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel where they voted to elect him pontiff. The altar in the chapel stands in front of Michelangelo's painting of "The Last Judgment." Navarro-Valls said Benedict's "solemn inauguration as pontiff" will be celebrated at St. Peter's on Sunday, April 24.

Ratzinger, a native of Bavaria, is the 265th pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church and the eighth German. The last German pope was Adrian VI, who reigned from 1522 to 1523 and was also the last non-Italian pontiff until John Paul II was elected in 1978.

The last pope to hold the name of Benedict was an Italian whose reign from 1914 to 1922 encompassed World War I. Church historians have called him one of the finest and least appreciated pontiffs.

The new pope is known for his firm stand on doctrinal orthodoxy. Celebrating a pre-conclave Mass on Monday in his capacity as dean of the College of Cardinals, he denounced "a dictatorship of relativism" and praised Catholics who are labeled fundamentalists for "having a clear faith based on the creed of the Church."

In the controversial 2000 "Declaration Dominus Iesus," which he issued in September 2000 as prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger expressed "sincere respect" for other religions. But he attacked "religious relativism which leads to the belief that one religion is as good as another."

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April (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49