The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 22, 2005, Page 5, Image 5
New pope keeps Vatican hierarchy, molds softer personal image
By BRIAN MURPHY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VATICAN CITY — Pope
Benedict XVI reinforced his
caretaker image Thursday,
reappointing the entire Vatican
hierarchy chosen by his populist
predecessor, John Paul II. At the
same time, the new pontiff sought
to dispel any impression that he
was aloof or dour.
He waved and smiled at crowds
gathered along the short stretch
between the Vatican gates and his
old apartment, where he spent
some time in the afternoon. “Viva
il papa!” some shouted. The pope,
dressed all in white, raised both
hands in a greeting.
’ His schedule also shows hints of
the openness and symbolic gestures
that were at the heart of John Paul
II’s reign: a meeting with
journalists Saturday, an outdoor
Mass to formally take the papal
throne Sunday and a visit Monday
to a church built over the tomb of
St. Paul an apostle who carries
deep significance for Roman
Catholics and Christian Orthodox.
The Vatican even unveiled new
e-mail addresses for Benedict,
following-an innovation started by
John Paul.
In the first days of his papacy,
the 78-year-old Benedict has
projected two clear styles.
One was expected: the
confident and well-prepared
Vatican insider who was one of
John Paul’s closest advisers for
more than two decades. His
decisions on the top-level posts
came quickly some popes have
struggled for weeks and showed
continuity with his predecessor.
Benedict was reported fo have
told cardinals shortly after he was
elected that his papacy would be a
short reign.
There were no changes in any
major Vatican office all the way up
to the No. 2 slot, the secretary of
state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
The only question remains who
will fill the powerful job that the
new pope , held since 1981:
overseeing church doctrine and
punishing those who stray.
Among names that have
surfaced are Cardinal Christoph
‘ Schoenborn of Austria and
Cardinal Francis George of
Chicago.
There is also speculation about
how long Sodano will remain
secretary of state. He is 77, two
years past the normal retirement
age for Vatican officials.
In the latest comments about
the new pope’s health, his brother,
the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, said
Thursday that Benedict “doesn’t
have any complaints now.”
“From the point of view of his
health, obviously he isn’t the same
as 10 years ago,” Ratzinger told
Sky Tg24 television. “Let’s hope
that everything goes well.”
The second image emerging a
humble and welcoming pastor has
caught many off guard.
The pontiffs name, Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger, became
synonymous among Catholics
with the church’s strictest factions
and earned him nicknames that
played off his German
background, such as “God’s
rottweiler.”
But top prelates and other
church experts say it was an unfair
reputation.
All agree that he is strongly
rooted in church traditions and
inflexible on issues such as the
church’s bans on contraception
and women priests. But so was
John Paul. The new pontiff may
lack his predecessor’s charisma, but
he shares his sense of reaching out
to the faithful, they say.
“He was a follower and servant
of the late Pope John Paul 11,”
Vatican-based Colombian
Cardinal Lopez Trujillo told
Colombian radio RCN. “He is a
simple man, serene, cordial, with a
fine sense of humor and very kind.
... No one has seen him in a
moment of indisposition of rancor
or intolerance. These are myths the
press invented.”
Another cardinal, Italian
Tarcisio Bertone, who had worked
as Ratzinger’s top aide, described
how the new pope always paid
attention to the street cats around
the Vatican and how they
sometimes followed him as he
walked to his office.
Bertone joked:1 “One time the
Swiss Guards had to intervene:
'Look, your eminence, the cats are
laying siege to the Holy See.’”
The Rev. Anthony Figueiredo, a
Rome-trained theologian at Seton
Hall University in New Jersey, said
the pontiff is making the needed
transition from the rigid role of
“defender of doctrine” to the world
stage as “unifier and spiritual
leader.”
Benedict “will be very firm on
doctrine. We know that,” said
Figueiredo. “But you will see a
man who is much more
approachable than this reputation
as an authoritarian, Germanic
figure.”
On Wednesday, with several
nods to John Paul’s groundbreaking
papacy, Benedict sketched out some
of his broad priorities, including
“an open and sincere dialogue” with
other faiths and trying to reverse the
decline in church attendance and
vocations in the West.
He also appears interested in
picking up where John Paul left off
with efforts to end the nearly
1,000-year estrangement with
Orthodox churches, which broke
with the Roman church over papal
authority and disputes about the
liturgy. One of the late pope’s
unfulfilled dreams was to visit
Russia, the most populous
Orthodox nation.
On Monday, Benedict plans to
visit the Rome basilica built over
the tomb of St. Paul, who helped
bring Christianity to regions on
both sides of the current Catholic
Orthodox divide.
The Sunday inauguration Mass
on St. Peter’s Square also shows he
favors the populist touch of recent
popes who have opted to hold their
installation ceremonies outdoors
rather than in St. Peter’s Basilica.
■ LOBBY
Continued from page 1
The students and legislators
focused on specific issues like
tuition, as well as more general
funds.
We just discussed the need for
legislators to invest in higher
education.
“That was the big thing,
fighting for tuition reduction,”
Preston said. “Specifically
providing funding so tuition won’t
be increased in the manner that it
has in the last two or three years.”
SCSSA, “founded on the
misconception that college
students are apathetic,” according
to the release, looks to maintain its
State House presence.
“It was just something that we
felt like we needed to do,” Preston
said.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edit
■ BOOKS
Continued from page 1
wait in line at Addam’s or wait in
the line at S.C. Bookstore or Russell
House,” he said.
Piper said the students he has
spoken with said the legislation is
“a great idea.”
Piper said he saved $200 buying
his textbooks online.
Comments on this story? E-tnail
gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu
OSSERVATORE ROMANO/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this photo made available by the Vatican paper Osservatore
Romano, Pope Benedict XVI greets the crowd gathered in front of
his former private home in Rome on Thursday. The Pontiff, former
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, exited Vatican City for a
quick visit to his former home.
■ FORUM
Continued from page 1
address their congressmen. Some
parents questioned whether they
were ever in charge of their child’s
education.
“There won’t be a wand that
puts a parent in charge in this
statute,” Miller said. “Nothing
changes a parents ability to be or
not to be in charge.”
Lily Sojourner, a graduate
student in the College of Social
Work, organized the forum to try
to affect a state policy she said she
feels passionate about. She said it
was lucky she felt passionate about
a pressing issue in the state.
“This is really an issue that
needs to be looked at,” Sojourner
said. “People really need to get a
comprehensive view of what is
going on.”
Comments on this story ? E-mail
gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu
Lawsuit alleges A OL user
seduced by online monitor
By ALEX VEIGA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — America
Online markets itself as a safe place
for children, with parent-friendly
features-and a force of employees
who monitor kids’ chat rooms and
watch out for adults prowling for
youngsters.
But is AOL doing enough to _
monitor the monitors?
That question is central to a
lawsuit filed by a California
teenager who claims a chat-room
monitor tried to seduce her online.
The employee allegedly used his
position to proposition the girl
over two years, during which they
exchanged graphic images, e-mails
and phone calls exactly the kind of
scenario the man was hired to
prevent.
AOL fired the man, Matthew
D. Wright, and referred the case to
the FBI and other law enforcement
agencies, none of which pursued
criminal charges. Attempts to
locate Wright, listed in the lawsuit
as a resident of Oklahoma, were
unsuccessful.
I he girl s lawsuit, hied April 1,
is the first such claim made against
an employee at AOL or any other
major Internet service provider,
according to online child safety
organizations and law
enforcement agencies. It alleges
negligence and false advertising
and seeks at least $25,000 from
Wright, AOL and its parent, Time
Warner Inc.
AOL says it closely screens its
chat-room monitors and acted
quickly in this case.
Still, the company is being
forced to defend itself over a
I
service it pioneered in the mid
1990s and which remains a selling
point to keep its millions of
subscribers from jumping to other
Internet service providers.
“This case isn’t so much are they
properly monitoring chat rooms
for kids; this is more a question of
what are they doing to monitor the
qualities and qualifications of the
people they’re hiring,” said Parry
Aftab, an Internet lawyer in New
Jersey who runs online safety
workshops for parents and
children.
Claims of online abuse by an
employee are rare, said Aftab, who
has heard of no more than a dozen
against chat-room monitors or
moderators.
Chat-room monitors are
cyberspace’s lifeguards. They
typically watch over the messages
chat participants post, and warn
users when they cross the line with
offensive or otherwise prohibited
remarks. They can delete offending
remarks, kick violators out of the
chat room, even ban them from
returning.
AOL is a rarity a major service
provider that offers its own chat
service, as well as one of the few
anline companies that have paid,
full-time employees monitoring
some chat rooms. The company
markets its KOL, or Kids Online,
:hat area as a safer online
experience.
It was inside one kids-only chat
-oom where Wright, then 23, first
eontacted the then-15-year-old
;irl, who was living in Kern
bounty, according to the lawsuit,
she is now 19 and living in Los
Angeles.
■ i
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