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04/21/2005:

"S.Africa's Tutu disappointed at Pope choice"

CAPE TOWN, April 20 (Reuters) - South Africa's former Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu said on Wednesday he was disappointed with the choice of the new pope who was a "rigid conservative" out of step with the times.

Tutu, a Nobel Peace laureate and Africa's best-known cleric, criticised both Joseph Ratzinger's conservative views on social issues and doctrinaire defence of the Catholic faith.

"If I had been a cardinal and I had the right to vote I would not have given my vote to the new pope," he told reporters in Cape Town.

"There is a multiplicity of faiths and you've got to be open to the realisation too that Christianity doesn't have a corner on the God market," he said.

Tutu, who had made clear his wish for an African pope, said he hoped the responsibilities of the German cardinal's new position would soften some of his hardline views.

Pope Benedict XVI, as Ratzinger will be known, is expected to continue the late Pope John Paul II's strict defence of Catholic orthodoxy on issues such as birth control, women priests, priestly celibacy, abortion and homosexuality.

Tutu, who helped galvanise international opinion against racist apartheid rule in South Africa, said it was also important the new pope was open to dialogue with other religions, particularly given the increasing popularity of evangelical Christians and Islam in Africa.

"God is not a Christian and we sometimes make out that God is the preserve of one particular faith," he said.

"We need church leaders who are open to interfaith dialogue, who are aware that the truth is not encapsulated only in the Christian faith."

Ratzinger has in the past dismissed other churches as "deficient".
Full Article: alertnet.org