Like his predecessor, this is a man who has gotten under the critics? skin. As the Washington Post put it, in electing him pope, the Catholic Church signaled its ?unwillingness? to ?abandon Europe,? and the rest of the West, to secularism. In response, rather than wage a war of ideas, his opponents have opted for painting a caricature of a power-mad control freak.

Someone who knows better is Erica Walter who studied with Ratzinger. In the New Republic, she wrote that her biggest reason for favoring him was his ?humility . . . his lack of desire for the job.? The ?shy and soft-spoken? man she knew ?pleaded to be allowed to resign from his office and return to teaching.? He only stayed because John Paul II wanted him to.

And so now, a man who did not want the job has it. We ought to be glad about that, and we should pray for the pope and the task before him. I speak as a confirmed, dyed-in-the-wool evangelical reformed Baptist, but I can say, ?Amen,? to Ratzinger?s statement that ?the obligation of the Christian . . . is to recover the capacity for nonconformism.? That is just what we need in our joint worldview battle against the ?dictatorship of relativism.?

For further reading and information:

ToSubscribe today to BreakPoint WorldView  magazine. Call 1-877-322-5527.

Ian Fisher, ? Cardinals Choose a Close Aid to John Paul II to Lead Church ,? New York Times, 19 April 2005 . (Article costs $2.95 to retrieve when archived.)

Fred Barbash, ? Pope, U.S. Cardinals Push Softer Image ,? WashingtonPost, 20 April 2005 .

Erica Walter, ? The Favorite ,? New Republic, 18 April 2005 . (Subscription required.)

David McHugh, ? Top cardinal?s new book calls for Europe to return to its Christian roots ,? North County Times, 13 April 2005 .

?Cardinal Ratzinger?s Homily ,? Free Republic, 19 April 2005 .

Edward Pentin, ? ?People Will Love Him?, ? MSNBC, 19 April 2005 .

Peggy Noonan, ? The Cardinal ,? Wall Street Journal, 14 April 2005 .