High drama, deep faith impressed priest

When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was named as the 265th pope, Rev. Kenneth Doyle was on a pay phone in the colonnade next to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, talking with Albany diocesan spokesperson Kenneth Goldfarb and Bishop Howard J. Hubbard as they watched the announcement on TV at the Pastoral Center in Albany.

"The whole thing was happening a few hundred feet from me, but to be sure [I heard it correctly], I was on the phone with someone 3,000 miles away!" Father Doyle recalled.

He spoke with The Evangelist after returning home from spending April 15-25 in Rome, serving as a resource for media in the Diocese.

Emotions

Being present for the conclave of cardinals that elected Pope Benedict, the announcement of his selection and his first Mass as pope was an emotional time for Father Doyle, who is diocesan chancellor for public information and pastor of St. Catherine of Siena parish in Albany.

The outcome of the conclave, he noted, had been more than a little uncertain.

"It was possible to believe the new pope could come from several different countries," he pointed out. The Catholic Church's growth in Asia and Africa gave credence to rumors that the new pope might be from a Third World country.

Who is it?

The uncertainty made waiting for the conclave's results exciting for Father Doyle. Having discussed the possibilities with colleague Victor Simpson, an Associated Press reporter who covers Rome, Father Doyle admitted that "my expectation was that it would be someone from South America."

After three ballots resulted in black smoke and a fourth initially seemed inconclusive, Father Doyle stood in St. Peter's Square among thousands of confused pilgrims, waiting until bells rang out to confirm that there was indeed a new pope.

During those minutes, he recalled thinking that, "in this technological age, you could have a neon sign that flashes, 'Habemus Papam!' But I think the smoke is wonderful. It's part of the mystique that draws people to the Church."

New pope

As Father Doyle immediately wrote comments for the press and made 15 calls to media outlets in the Diocese, he thought about what he knew of Cardinal Ratzinger.

"I remembered that he was a leading-edge theologian who really led the way in the renewal that the Second Vatican Council had produced," Father Doyle said. "My main memory of Cardinal Ratzinger, from working in Rome, was how kind he was and how approachable. He speaks very gently in person."

Father Doyle found it "dramatic" when the newly elected pope went to pray at the tomb of St. Peter, the first pope, who was martyred in Rome.

"It made quite an impact on me to see him seek strength for his own pontificate" and to realize that St. Peter was among 12 men, mostly fishermen, who began a tradition that led to the election of the 265th pope, centuries later.

As the pope prayed, Father Doyle realized that, outside, St. Peter's Square was filled with people of many nationalities, representing the Catholic Church's presence all over the world.

Image of pope

A talk Pope Benedict gave in the Sistine Chapel the morning after his election was important to Father Doyle. He said that the media had spent the first day of Benedict's papacy recalling him as "the person who was the enforcer, who rode herd on theologians."

But the pope's talk set out the themes that Father Doyle believes will last throughout his papacy: continuation of the progress made during Vatican II, dependence on both the prayers and the opinions of the world's bishops, and ecumenical outreach.

"That really reversed the publicity about him," Father Doyle stated. "Following the talk, the themes [in the media] became, 'This is a person who is deeply spiritual and brilliant in his theology, and who, perhaps, is already growing into his broader role as a spiritual leader and unifier."

Meaningful change

That broadening was evident to Father Doyle in a change in the pope's April 24 investiture Mass.

Traditionally, all the cardinals kneel before the pope to kiss his ring, but Pope Benedict decided instead to have a group of people representative of various aspects of the Church come up, including two recently confirmed teens, a married couple, a deacon and a religious sister.

"It was a nice way of showing the Church is composed of people in different walks of life and that laypeople have an important role in the Church," Father Doyle remarked.

Lasting impact

The chancellor said his faith was strengthened by what he witnessed in Rome, "particularly when I see the global outreach of the Church, the way issues vary in different parts of the world, the way people in different areas look to the Church."

After such a momentous series of events, Father Doyle admitted he was happy to come home.

He joked that "that's partly because you can't really get hamburgers in Rome," but added that "when you're a diocesan priest, what you really want to get back to is being in a parish."

(Father Doyle told The Evangelist that his media sources in Rome believe the other candidate who got a lot of votes during the conclave and whom many expected to be elected was Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, a Jesuit from Buenos Aires, Argentina.)

(5/05/05)