"I want to tell you something about the conclave without violating the secrecy. I never thought I would be elected, nor did I do anything to make it happen, but when slowly the unfolding of the votes led me to understand that the 'guillotine' was coming closer and looking at me, I asked God to spare me this fate." (Pope Benedict XVI, April 25, 2005)
"Dear brothers and sisters, after the Great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble worker in the Lord's vineyard. I am comforted by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and act even with insufficient instruments. And above all, I entrust myself to your prayers. With the joy of the risen Lord and confidence in his constant help, we will go forward. The Lord will help us and Mary, his most holy mother, will be alongside us. Thank you." ~ The first public words of Pope Benedict XVI.
Cardinal John O'Connor quoted the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the International Reunion of Priests in Fatima, June 18, 1996, in The Necessity of Continuing Formation for the Priest. He wrote: "... It is not mere poetic fancy, then, to assert that in order to be formed in the Eucharistic Christ we must empty ourselves. Reminding us of our Lord's words in John [15:5], 'Without Me you can do nothing', Cardinal Ratzinger tells us in his own treatment of the priesthood:
This "nothing" that the disciples share with Jesus expresses at once the power and the impotence of the apostolic office. On their own, by the force of their own understanding, knowledge and will, they cannot do anything they are meant to do as apostles. How could they possibly say "I forgive you your sins"? How could they conceivably say "This is my body" or impose their hands and pronounce the words "Receive the Holy Spirit"? Nothing that makes up the activity of the apostles is the product of their own capabilities. But it is precisely in having "nothing" to call their own that their communion with Jesus consists .... [Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. (Ignatius Press: San Francisco, 1991, Page 114.]
Speaking of his decision to accept the papacy, he said: "It is not a question of honors, but of service to be carried out with simplicity and availability, imitating our teacher and Lord, who did not come to be served but to serve, and who in the Last Supper washed the feet of the apostles, asking them to do the same." (April 22, 2005)
