”We congratulate the Roman Catholic Church in Norway and the world on the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the new Pope. We hope he will carry on John Paul II’s struggle for the poor and oppressed, and continue his work for Christian unity and inter-faith dialogue”.

Norway’s Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik said this in a comment after today’s election of German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the 265 ^th> successor of St. Peter on the See of Rome, under the name Benedict XVI.

”We pray for God’s blessing of Pope Benedict XVI’s service as the most visual leader in the Christian church”, Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik said.