The man who sat at the right hand of Pope John Paul II for more than 20 years as his doctrinal enforcer emerged the winner, the 265th in succession to St. Peter, but his election will bring little comfort to Dr. Rowan Williams the head of the Anglican Communion and even less to ECUSA's Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold.

Williams had earlier opined that he hoped a new pope would continue his predecessor's legacy of ecumenicity and work towards unity, and while the new pope has said he would do just that, it seems less likely that he will include talks of any significance with the Anglican Communion and its liberal leaders.

Roman Catholic Church leaders made it clear to Williams when he first visited Rome following his election that homosexuality is not on their radar screen and that his promotion of it will only further isolate and alienate Rome from Canterbury as the Western branch of Anglicanism moves further to the left.

The Roman Catholic Church will never tolerate the likes of Canon Jeffrey John or Bishop V. Gene Robinson as self-declared, avowed homoerotic men, one claiming he is celibate and the other living openly with another man and a divorcee to boot. Their radar screen won't even pick up a faint signal on that issue.

Already Rome is in impaired relationship with the Episcopal Church, banning Griswold from future ARCIC talks because of l'affair Robinson, as have the Orthodox churches, and with the election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger one can see no reason for this policy to be suddenly reversed, despite conciliatory overtures on ecumenicity in the Pope's first homily.

And Rome won’t be impressed with Griswold's comment on the Cardinal's election when he said: "I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide him in his words and his actions and that he may become a focus of unity and a minister of reconciliation in a church and a world in which faithfulness and truth wear many faces."

Ah, there's that pluriform truths notion of Griswold's sneaking in again. "Dear Benedict XVI please don’t forget all those pansexualists out there who just want to be included in the Roman Catholic Church, behavior and all, and while you're thinking about that why don't you ordain women to the priesthood, and if you are really courageous find a homoerotic bishop and make him a cardinal so he can sit with the other cardinals and whine about inclusivity."

Yours faithfully,
Frank

PS I will be sending you photos of the 'faces' of Louie Crew aka Quean Lutibelle and Vickie Gene by express mail. Both these men have done sterling work in the area of inclusivity causing tens of thousands of American Episcopalians to leave the church.
PPS and then you can watch your church go into free fall just like mine.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams was more careful in his remarks, avoiding the language of liberal agit prop and said quite simply, "His election is [also] of great significance to Christians everywhere. I look forward to meeting him and working together to build on the legacy of his predecessor, as we seek to promote shared understanding between our churches in the service of the Gospel and the goal of Christian unity."

“He is a theologian of great stature, who has written some profound reflections on the nature of God and the church. His choice of the name Benedict suggests that he wants to connect his vision of the Church to the monastic spirit of service and contemplation."

It probably won't take too much time for the Pontiff to "contemplate" the state of the Anglican Communion and realize that it is on the brink of schism.

But within hours of the announcement, the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman, (Quincy) one of three remaining ECUSA Anglo Catholic bishops hailed the election of Pope Benedict XVI declaring the new Pope a friend to Anglicans worldwide especially orthodox Episcopalians in the United States. "Forward In Faith pledges its support to this valiant champion of Orthodoxy, with a promise of regular prayer as we seek to find greater ways in which orthodox Christians worldwide might be able to offer mutual love, respect, and support."

Bishop Ackerman obliquely stuck it to Griswold by pointing out that the Pope, when he was a cardinal extended his friendship to Orthodox Episcopalians in the United States when he sent official greetings to the Anglican Communion Network organizational meeting in Plano, Texas in 2003.

"As President of Forward In Faith, North America, I am certain that I speak for countless Orthodox Anglicans worldwide who rejoice in the election of Pope Benedict XVI as Bishop of Rome, Supreme Pontiff, "Servant of the Servants of God," and "Patriarch of the West."

As a Cardinal, Pope Benedict has been a friend to Anglicans worldwide and in particular has graciously offered hospitality to us in our Ecumenical Dialogue, wrote Ackerman.

The Bishop of Ebbsfleet, one of the Church of England's Provincial Episcopal Visitors (Flying Bishops) had this to say. "He (the Pope) sees theological relativism as a real danger to the Church, but the enemy of the Church, is not a questioning faith amongst Christ's disciples but the determined secularization espoused by so many opinion-formers in contemporary Western society."

The pope had this to say about Anglicanism: "Much of Catholicism remains in Anglicanism. In Anglicanism there have always been vital currents that have strengthened the Catholic inheritance". The new pope is not uncritical however: "A new situation has been brought about by two circumstances: the extending of the majority principle to questions of doctrine and the entrusting of doctrinal decisions to the national Churches. Both of these are in themselves nonsensical." NONSENSICAL! Are you listening Frank?

He then said of the Church of England: "[I am] not eager to lose the Catholic element and therefore consciously admits bishops who are not for women's ordination and who provide a sort of refuge for the Catholic part of Anglicanism. A strong Catholic potency has always remained in Anglicanism, and it is becoming very visible again in the present crisis".

Anglican Mission in America bishop John H. Rodgers had this to say of the pope's conservatism: "Pope Benedict's well-known stands include the assertion that Catholicism is "true" and other religions are "deficient"; that the modern, secular world, especially in Europe, is spiritually weak; and that Catholicism is in competition with Islam. He has also strongly opposed homosexuality, women as priests and stem cell research."

Pope Benedict's well-known stands include the assertion that Catholicism is "true" and other religions are "deficient"; that the modern, secular world, especially in Europe, is spiritually weak; and that Catholicism is in competition with Islam.

As the church' doctrinal enforcer he cracked down on liberal theologians and in 2000 wrote the contentious Vatican document "Dominus Jesus," asserting the truth of the Catholic belief over others.

This did not sit well with evangelicals in and out of the Anglican Communion who still believe that a pure understanding of salvation by grace through faith sans works is still not the basis of Catholicism, and they remain wary of the accretions the Roman Catholic Church has added to Scripture.

But a leading Anglican liberal couldn't resist taking a poke at the new Pontiff. South Africa's retired Anglican archbishop, Desmond Tutu, said he'd hoped for a pope with more liberal credentials than Benedict XVI.

"He would not have been my candidate." Tutu told journalists that he had hoped for a pope who would have considered ending the Roman Catholic Church's ban on condoms and allowing women to be ordained. Tutu accused the new pope of being rigid.

Then Tutu said something incredible: "God is not a Christian. We sometimes make out that God is in the preserve of one particular faith. We need to have church leaders who are open to interfaith dialogue who are aware that truth is not encapsulated only in the Christian faith,'' adding that one of the "holiest people" he had ever met was the Dalai Lama, Tibet's Buddhist spiritual leader.

Pope Benedict once called Buddhism a religion for the self-indulgent. Speaking to cardinals as they went into the conclave that made him pope, he listed relativism - the ideology that there are no absolute truths - as among tendencies he considered dangers to the faith. Relativism really reduces our convictions to preference and logical disputation to vacuity, he said.

With the election of Benedict XVI the Roman Catholic Church has entrenched itself more deeply in orthodoxy on faith and morals with the legacy of Pope John Paul II, and there can be little question that Cardinal Ratzinger's quick win was in part a response to fears of further erosion of the church in Western Europe, even as it spurts ahead in the Global South.

Clearly the cardinals were not ready to elect an African Pope this time around, and the Italian cardinals, like the Italian Mafia, have seen their days numbered, at least for the time being.

The Roman Church clearly wanted a strong clear voice on faith and morals at a time when post-modernity is sweeping the world with its value-free, anything goes; 'I'll do it my way' notions that presently grip contemporary America and Europe.

They got one, now we will see how it all plays out. Griswold should not hold his breath waiting for an invitation to the Vatican any time soon, after all it was he who said the orthodox in ECUSA are in league with the Father of Lies, and who would want someone like Griswold wandering the halls of the Sistine Chapel?

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