By Hilary White
ROME, November 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Recently released documents from the former East German communist secret police, the Stasi, show that the future Pope Benedict XVI was under surveillance since the early 1970’s.
According to a report from a major German weekly paper, Bild am Sonntag, agents of the State Security Ministry, known as the Stasi, regarded the young German theology professorÂas one of the most dangerous anti-communists in Europe. Spies collected biographical details and tried to anticipate his moves.
Reporting on October 2, the paper said it had received permission personally from Pope Benedict to publish the information.
“Since the mid-70s, Ratzinger has been a close friend of the former Cardinal Wojtyla, for whose papacy he worked very hard and who tapped him in 1980 to organize the church’s support in West Germany for the revolutionary developments in Poland,” reads one of the files.
Pope Benedict, who at the time of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s was considered a theological liberal, has openly criticized the current forces of the left in Europe, particularly in their efforts to de-Christianize European society.
The East Germans feared Ratzinger’s anti-communist influence in the Church, particularly in Latin America where the Marxist-inspired Liberation Theology was gaining strength.
The Stasi followed Ratzinger so closely that they were able to predict his elevation to the Vatican’s doctrinal office two years before it happened. The communists’ personality profile said the future pope had “a certain winning charm, although he may seem somewhat shy initially,” an opinion that has come to be shared by many in the media, particularly after his appearance at Cologne’s World Youth Day.
Indeed, Pope Benedict, whom the media is starting to call the “pope of quiet surprises,” is surprising some with his unexpected popularity. Whereas the wildly popular John Paul II often drew crowds of 40,000 to 45,000 to his weekly general audiences, recent counts show that Pope Benedict is greeted regularly by 50,000 to 150,000 pilgrims a week.