It must be the eyes

It seems that gambling, gossip, and speculation all go hand in hand with human instinct that turns on whenever major events are taking place. This is so true with the ascent of then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger - now Benedict XVI - to the Papacy. It's commonfare for people to give their take on what his reign will be like, or how he shall conduct himself: rottweiler or shepherd?

I'd like to see it this way: take a look at Pope Benedict XVI's recent photograph below and note your first reaction.

Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

It must be the eyes.

Yes, we are liable to pre-judge people we do not know personally based on what information is made available to us - such as photographs and write-ups in the case of Benedict XVI. In my case, I've been hearing his name before - Ratzinger - coupled with his infamous reputation for being a staunch doctrinal enforcer. Then, my Dad pointed out just recently (when CNN trained its cameras on Rome due to John Paul II's passing) that Cardinal Ratzinger has this stern, scary look.

But have we given thought to other information about him? The best gauge by which we can say whether he will live up to the nasty label of "God's Rottweiler" shall be how we will work. Here are some updates:

Earlier Thursday, Benedict reappointed the entire Vatican hierarchy.

The Vatican also unveiled new e-mail addresses for Benedict, following an innovation started by Pope John Paul II.

Benedict's schedule also shows hints of the openness and symbolic gestures that were at the heart of John Paul's reign. On Saturday he is set to hold a meeting with journalists, something he regularly did as a cardinal.

An outdoor Mass to formally take the papal throne is scheduled for Sunday. Choosing an open-air installation over an indoors ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica shows Benedict favors the populist touch of recent popes who have made the same choice.

In another sign Benedict intends to follow John Paul in reaching out to other religions, the new pope invited the chief rabbi of Rome, Riccardo di Segni, to the installation Mass. The rabbi will not be able to attend as Sunday is the first day of the Jewish Passover holiday, but he was pleased to be asked, said Riccardo Pacifici, a spokesman for Rome's Jewish community.

With the above, the press is now pushing that Benedict XVI will continue his esteemed predecessor's administrative style. What about the personality?

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 II," 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: "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."

Let us all hope and pray that he is indeed who we need as our Holy Father, as his initial showings have been communicating.

Perhaps in the next few weeks, the nasty labels will gradually be obscured by proof that Benedict XVI is truly the vicar of Christ - loving, caring, and leading. Then maybe all shall now say to him, "Wir Lieben Dich" - German for We Love You.

(The Pope's E-mail: benedictxvi@vatican.va)

[News block quotes from the article New Pope Keeps Vatican Hierarchy Intact.]