BERLIN - The election of a German pope 60 years after the Nazi defeat in World War II is powerful proof of renewed international confidence in Germany, officials, clerics and historians said Wednesday.
"This is an important sign of Germany's definitive return to the international community of nations," the German Bishops' Conference said in a letter addressed to Pope Benedict XVI, who was born in 1927 in the tiny Bavarian town of Marktl am Inn.
"It is fortunate that nearly 60 years after the end of World War II -- particularly in light of the anniversary of the German capitulation (May 8) -- a German cardinal can be elected to the highest office of the Church after such a long time.
"Many did not believe this was possible after the still tangible atrocities unleashed from Germany in the 20th century."
Despite six decades of atonement for the Nazi crimes committed in their name, Germans still often see themselves as pariahs on the world stage.
In a telegram to Pope Benedict XVI, President Horst Koehler carefully avoided any hints of nationalism in sending his congratulations, saying that the choice of a native son "fills us in Germany with particular joy and a bit of pride".
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder described Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's election as the first German pope in nearly 500 years as "a great honor for Germany" while three-quarters of Germans said in a poll released Wednesday that they welcomed the choice of a compatriot.
Paul Spiegel, the head of Germany's now fast-growing Jewish community, said he believed Pope Benedict XVI would "intensify the efforts begun by his predecessor" for greater understanding among faiths.
The election of a German as pope, however, inevitably revives uncomfortable historical questions about the Church and its role during the Nazi era.
In fact, much of the impetus for the Vatican to come to terms with its at least tacit support for Adolf Hitler's regime and its silence in the face of the Holocaust initially arose from Germany.
German author Rolf Hochhuth's groundbreaking play "The Deputy," which premiered in 1963, charged that Pope Pius XXII was complicit in the Nazi campaign to exterminate European Jews and sparked an international debate about the Church's moral authority.
But Rainer Kampling, a professor of Roman Catholic theology at Berlin's Free University, warned against viewing Ratzinger's election as a political decision or even historical absolution.
"There is still a difference between political integration and theological importance. Benedict XVI was elected as a cardinal, not as a German," he said.
"Nevertheless, it seems to be apparent that there were no longer any major reservations about Germany" at the conclave that elected the pope.
Kampling said that all eyes would be on Benedict XVI nevertheless to see what overtures he made toward Jews and when he would make his first trip to Israel.
"You cannot overcome the Nazi period. It remains Europe's open wound."
Klaus Schatz of St. George's Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in the western city of Frankfurt said Ratzinger's nationality had only played a "small role" in his selection, and recalled that a small clutch of German Catholic bishops who resisted Hitler had helped restore the Church from 1946.
Israel's daily Jerusalem Post said Wednesday it was confident that Benedict XVI would follow the path of John Paul II who was widely hailed as the most sympathetic pope towards the Jewish people.
Under John Paul II's leadership, the Vatican opened diplomatic relations with Israel, and he was the first pope to pray in a synagogue in 1986.
"Paradoxically, it is most probably his German background that has made Ratzinger especially sensitive to the Jewish people" the paper said in an editorial.
"One could compare his sensitivity, born of the soul-searching of a man born into German society, with the sensitivity of his predecessor, John Paul II, who was born in Poland, a victim of Nazi Germany."
04/20/2005 16:07 GMT