Joseph Ratzinger was one of the most conservative Cardinals. Now he's Pope Benedict XVI. Until his election, Ratzinger was the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In 2003 the Congregation issued a scathing attack on same-sex unions and called upon Catholic politicians to ignore their civil and secular responsibilities and vote as Church dogma dictated.

Names may have changed, but goals and methods haven't. Before its 1542 name change what's now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith was called the Sacred Congregation of the Universal Inquisition. Its duty was "to defend the church from heresy." It was the organization responsible for the 300 years of torture and murder called "The Inquisition": hate and death ad majorem gloriam Dei. And the beat goes on...

According to Malcolm Thornberry's April 19, 2005 report on 365Gay.com, other noteworthy beliefs of the new pope include opposition to "contraception and the use of condoms to combat HIV/AIDS. He advocates a diminished role for women in the Church and has called for mandatory celibacy for priests." New York Times writer Ian Fisher reported on some of the new pope's political beliefs: "Pope Benedict's well-known stands include the assertion that Catholicism is 'true' and other religions are 'deficient'; that the modern, secular world, especially in Europe, is spiritually weak; and that Catholicism is in competition with Islam. He has also strongly opposed homosexuality, women as priests and stem cell research."

The new pope headed what was once the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Another April 20, 2005 New York Times article commented on the political dangers of the new pope's beliefs: "For instance, as a cardinal, the new pope inserted himself last year into the political debate over allowing Turkey into the European Union. He was quoted as saying that adding Turkey, a predominantly Muslim nation of 70 million people, would dilute the culture of what he considers a Christian continent and that Turkey should align itself instead with other Muslim nations. At a time when few things are more important than reconciling the Islamic world with the non-Islamic West, it would be extremely disturbing if the pope became an unnecessary wedge."

The day after Cardinal Ratzinger's elevation, Advocate.com ran a story detailing some of the new pope's thoughts on the "intrinsic moral evil" of homosexuals. The piece was based on the National Catholic Reporter's review of "key moments" in Ratzinger's tenure, including his imposition of "a lifetime ban on pastoral work by pro-gay Salvatorian Fr. Robert Nugent and School Sister of Notre Dame Jeannine Gramick."

Fr. Nugent's crime was that he wrote books and articles urging Christian love and tolerance toward gays and lesbians. He was not, however, the only priest to suffer the wrath of Ratzinger and the Congregation. In October 1986, "acting on instructions from Ratzinger, the head of the Jesuit order informed Jesuit Fr. John McNeill that he must either abandon pastoral ministry with gays or be expelled from the order. McNeill chooses not to give up his work. McNeill had been silenced by the Vatican in 1977 for his book The Church and the Homosexual, which argued that stable homosexual relationships should be judged by the same moral criteria as heterosexual relationships."

Similarly, Sister Gramick's crime was ministering to gays and lesbians. Following the screening of a documentary film highlighting the 62 year-old nun's work in late January 2005, a reception was to be held in St. Mary Parish in Royal Oak, Michigan. But following Ratzinger's orders, the Archdiocese of Detroit issued a statement saying "one of its parish facilities is not the appropriate setting for a gathering not in accord with the mission and message of the church." Since the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith considered gays and lesbians "sinners," ministering to them would certainly seem to be both "the mission and message" of the Church.

As New York Times op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd noted on April 20, 2005, "Cardinal Ratzinger, nicknamed 'God's Rottweiler' and 'the Enforcer,' helped deny Communion rights to John Kerry and other Catholic politicians in the 2004 election." Perhaps it was history's sense of irony that Ratzinger's first full day as pope was April 20, Hitler's birthday. As a teenager Ratzinger had been forced into service for the Nazis but eventually deserted - only to become the advocate of faith-based fascism.

What's in a name? Much is being made of the new pope's choice of name. The usual allusions are to Pope Benedict XV, the World War I pope who demanded peace, as well as a political role for the Vatican in 1919 Paris Peace Conference. (His demand was rejected.) Pope Benedict XVI stated one of his goals was the "unification all Christians." But the "all" did not include gays and lesbians, or any Catholics who disagreed with Cardinal Ratzinger. He waged war against them. Ratzinger tolerated no opposition. There is little reason to believe Benedict XVI will.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "Of the first Pontiff who bore the name of Benedict practically nothing is known. The date of his birth is unknown; he d. 30 July, 579. He was a Roman and the son of Boniface, and was called Bonosus by the Greeks." Bonosus became Pope Benedict I on June 2, 575.

St. Benedict of Nursia died in 543. He is the acknowledged founder of western monasticism. The Catholic Encyclopedia correctly notes Benedict's "influence throughout the West on civil and religious government, and upon the spiritual life of Christians." Benedict's purpose "was not to institute an order of clerics with clerical duties and offices, but an organization and a set of rules for the domestic life of such laymen as wished to live as fully as possible the type of life presented in the Gospel. 'My words', he says, 'are addressed to thee, whoever thou art, that, renouncing thine own will, dost put on the strong and bright armour of obedience in order to fight for the Lord Christ, our true King.'" (The Benedictine Rules lay out his plan.)

"Renouncing thine own will" and following what politically motivated religious leaders say is the only "true" way to live - and to BE - seems to be a theme Benedict XVI plans to continue, along with the church's pomp.

How many people could have been fed with the money spent on the cardinals' and the new pope's robes, vestments and golden accoutrements? How many people could have been fed with the money spent on John Paul II's funeral and the coronation of Benedict XVI? Those who claim penury and to be representatives of a poor Nazarene carpenter certainly do live (and die) well...

What would Jesus say about these ostentatious fine peacocks?

Mel Seesholtz is a Professor of English at Pennsylvania State University.