As someone who was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools (but doesn’t attend Mass as often as he should), I found myself unexpectedly interested in the selection of a new pope.

I did not always agree with Pope John Paul II, but I admired him as a man of conviction and faith. I didn’t realize I held him in such esteem until he passed away, and it was with great anticipation that I awaited the naming of his successor.

That man turned out to be Joseph Ratzinger, a German cardinal known inside the Vatican as “God’s Rotweiller” for his crackdowns on dissenters and Catholic theologians who didn’t toe the Church line. I have mixed feelings about Ratzinger, who has taken Benedict the XVI as his papal name.

But what’s in a name? For a pope, the significance of the name he takes is often a clue as to what the tone of his papacy will be. The last pope with the name of Benedict worked to spread tolerance, heal shattered international relations after World War I and offered several proposals for peace. Cardinal Ratzinger may have adopted Benedict XVI as a sign that he intends for his reign to have a similarly ecumenical tone.

Thus far, Benedict XVI has adopted an all-embracing stance in his rhetoric. On Monday, The Associated Press reported that he said he would work to build “bridges of friendship” to the Muslim world; this is a huge change from his proclamation a few years ago that other religions are all “gravely deficient.” While meeting with Muslim leaders, the pope said, “It is therefore imperative to engage in authentic and sincere dialogue, built on respect for the dignity of every human person, created as we Christians firmly believe, in the image and likeness of God.” Furthermore, Benedict has claimed that he intends to be “a listener” — a far cry from the Inquisitor General that some of his critics are making him out to be.

The one issue that supersedes all others for me, however, is how the new pope will rectify the horrific crimes perpetrated against children by priests, and what measures he will take to ensure that justice be done. So far, his record on this issue has been abysmal, having issued a joint memo two years ago with Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone in which he advocated covering up the sexual abuse scandal. If Benedict is to personify God’s will on Earth, then he must make this issue paramount. Until the guilty parties are excommunicated and jailed, it’s hard for me to take seriously anything the Catholic hierarchy says.

That being said, Benedict has been presented with a tremendous opportunity for change. One of the things I find most appealing about Christianity is the notion of spiritual growth and divine inspiration. As Catholics believe the pope to be guided by the Holy Spirit, it may turn out that Pope Benedict XVI is a very different man than Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Perhaps he, like Shakespeare’s Prince Henry IV, will grow in his office — “Presume not that I am the thing I was/ For God doth know, so shall the world perceive/ That I have turn’d away my former self.”

So it is with a mix of optimism and worry that I wait to see how Benedict’s papacy takes shape. His past gives me pause; his words give me hope, but it remains to be seen what kind of pope he will be. Sooner or later, by his deeds we shall know him.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.