Related: China congratulates new pope

Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, waves from a balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after being elected by the conclave of cardinals, April 19, 2005. (Reuters Photo)

    BEIJING, April 20 -- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected Pope on Tuesday in the first conclave of the new millennium.

    He chose the name Benedict XVI. Benedict comes from the Latin for "blessing" and is one of a number of papal names of holy origin such as Clement ("mercy"), Innocent ("hopeful" as well as "innocent") and Pius ("pious").

    78-year-old Ratzinger, the first German pope in nearly a thousand years, emerged onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome late on Tuesday.

    He waved to a wildly cheering crowd of tens of thousands and gave his first blessing.

    It was one of the fastest papal elections in the past century, lasting just over 24 hours.

    Benedict XVI decided to spend the night at the Vatican hotel, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, and to dine with the cardinals. He was to preside over a Mass on Wednesday in the Sistine Chapel and will be formally installed Sunday.

    Like John Paul, whose country was occupied by the Nazis, Ratzinger also has a World War II legacy.

    In his memoirs, he wrote of being enrolled in Hitler's Nazi youth movement against his will when he was 14 in 1941, when membership was compulsory. He says he was soon let out because of his studies for the priesthood.

    The new Pople faces some issues: the need for dialogue with Islam, the divisions between the wealthy north and the poor south as well as problems within the church, which include the priest sex abuse scandals that have cost the church millions in settlements in the United States and elsewhere, a chronic shortage of priests and nuns in the West and the stream of people leaving the church. Enditem

(Source: Agencies)