Editing Pope Benedict XVI (section)

=== Election to the papacy ===
{{Main|2005 papal conclave}}

In April 2005, before his election as pope, Ratzinger was identified as one of the [[Time 100|100 most influential people in the world]] by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''.<ref name="Time 100">{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Andrew |title=Time 100 2005 |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1972656_1972691_1973018,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618214719/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1972656_1972691_1973018,00.html |archive-date=18 June 2010 |magazine=Time |date=18 April 2005 |access-date=3 April 2013}}</ref> While Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger repeatedly stated he would like to retire to his house in the Bavarian village of [[Pentling]] near [[Regensburg]] and dedicate himself to writing books.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wittl |first=Wolfgang |title=Blau-weiß gekachelte Bescheidenheit |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/wohnhaus-von-papst-blau-weiss-gekachelte-bescheidenheit-1.1474839 |access-date=2 January 2023 |website=Süddeutsche.de |date=24 September 2012 |language=de}}</ref>

At the [[papal conclave]], "it was, if not Ratzinger, who? And as they came to know him, the question became, why not Ratzinger?"<ref name="goodstein">{{cite news|author=Goodstein, Laurie and Elisabetta Povoledo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/11/world/europe/among-cardinals-deep-divisions-over-next-pope.html |title=Before Smoke Rises at Vatican, It's Romans vs. the Reformers |work=The New York Times |date=11 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Ivereigh |first=Austen |title=Does cardinal confusion spell a long conclave? |url=http://www.osvdailytake.com/2013/03/ivereigh-in-rome-does-cardinal.html |work=Our Sunday Visitor |date=11 March 2013 |access-date=12 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316114559/http://www.osvdailytake.com/2013/03/ivereigh-in-rome-does-cardinal.html |archive-date=16 March 2013}}</ref> On 19 April 2005, he was elected on the second day after four ballots.<ref name="goodstein" /> Cardinal [[Cormac Murphy-O'Connor]] described the final vote, "It's very solemn when you go up one by one to put your vote in the urn and you're looking up at the ''[[Last Judgement (Michelangelo)|Last Judgement]]'' of [[Michelangelo]]. And I still remember vividly the then Cardinal Ratzinger sitting on the edge of his chair."<ref>Cormac Murphy-O'Connor speaking on BBC Radio 4's ''Midweek'', 13 May 2015</ref> Ratzinger had hoped to retire peacefully and said that "At a certain point, I prayed to God 'please don't do this to me'...Evidently, this time He didn't listen to me."<ref>Pizzey, Allen [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/benedict-i-prayed-not-to-be-pope/ "Benedict: I Prayed Not To Be Pope"], [[CBS News]], 11 February 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20111228010014/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/02/world/main684865.shtml WebCitation archive]</ref>

The day following Ratzinger's election, the German newspaper [[Bild]] ran what would become one of its most iconic headlines in response to the announcement of the prior day, [[:de:Wir sind Papst!|Wir Sind Papst]] (''We are (the) Pope'').<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-11 |title=How 'Wir sind Papst!' became a headline for the ages |url=https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/how-wir-sind-papst-became-a-headline |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=www.pillarcatholic.com/ |language=en}}</ref>

At the balcony, Benedict's first words to the crowd, given in Italian before he gave the traditional ''[[Urbi et Orbi]]'' blessing in Latin, were:

{{blockquote
| Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul{{nbsp}}II, the Cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord. The fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with insufficient instruments comforts me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers. In the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of his unfailing help, let us move forward. The Lord will help us, and Mary, His Most Holy Mother, will be on our side. Thank you.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2005/april/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20050419_first-speech.html |title=First greeting of His Holiness Benedict XVI |date=19 April 2005| access-date=31 December 2022| publisher=The Holy See}}</ref>
}}

On 24 April, Benedict celebrated the [[Papal Inauguration]] Mass in [[St. Peter's Square]], during which he was invested with the [[Pallium]] and the [[Ring of the Fisherman]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Mass, Imposition of the Pallium and Conferral of the Fisherman's ring for the beginning of the Petrine ministry of the Bishop of Rome |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050424_inizio-pontificato.html |website=vatican.va |date=24 April 2005 |access-date=31 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123231542/https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050424_inizio-pontificato.html |archive-date=23 November 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 7 May, he took possession of his cathedral church, the [[Archbasilica of St. John Lateran]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Mass of possession of the chair of the Bishop of Rome |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050507_san-giovanni-laterano.html |website=vatican.va |date=7 May 2005 |access-date=31 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809012609/https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050507_san-giovanni-laterano.html |archive-date=9 August 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>