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NEW POPE BENEDICT XVI

From Restless Hearts, the newsletter of the Tagaste Monastery.
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Ratzinger, who took the name Benedict XVII, appeared on the balcony of the Vatican Basilica to greet the people and deliver his first papal blessing.

"Dear brothers and sisters, after our great pope, John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble worker in God's vineyard," according to a translation of remarks he made in Italian. "I am consoled by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and how to act, even with insufficient tools, and I especially trust in your prayers.

"In the joy of the resurrected Lord, trustful of his permanent help, we go ahead, sure that God will help. And Mary, his most beloved mother, stands on our side"

He then delivered his first Urbi at Orbi papal blessing, after which the crowd in St. Peter's square chanted, "Viva il Papa" or "Long live the pope."

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