Joseph Ratzinger of Bavaria, now the new Pope, Benedict XVI, also is widely described by those who know him as a modest, gentle man with a shy smile, a large intellect and a ready handshake.
And the man who appeared on a balcony yesterday with a beam so bright it lit up the whole Square of St. Peter hardly looked like the Vatican's feared hatchet man.
"I think it would be wise for everyone to check their conceptions of Cardinal Ratzinger at the door because all bets are now off," said Vatican expert Rocco Palmo.
"In his job [as the Church's doctrinal watchdog] he became a controversial figure," Palmo added, "but the 'Panzer cardinal' is not going to become the 'Panzer Papa.'"
Because of his thick German accent when speaking Italian, his severe enforcement of dogma and his onetime membership in the Hitler Youth, Ratzinger has often been unfairly lampooned as a Nazi.
But he has strong fans among Jewish leaders, who say he was behind John Paul's unprecedented efforts to reconcile with Jews.
"He is the architect of the ideological policy to recognize, to have full relations, with Israel," said Rabbi Israel Singer, chairman of the World Jewish Congress.
