Still grieving for their native son John Paul II, people in Krakow on Tuesday expressed happiness and hope at the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany as the new leader of the Catholic church.
Ratzinger, who has taken the name Benedict XVI, is a stalwart defender of church teaching and is expected to require adherence to the same conservative line of Pope John Paul II.
One Pole in Krakow said that Ratzinger had been a good friend of Pope John Paul II and is well known in Poland.
Another resident said she believed all of Poland would look forward to Pope Benedict XVI's visit to their country.
Initial reaction in overwhelmingly Catholic, socially conservative Poland was in some ways more enthusiastic than in Ratzinger's home country, the highly secular Germany.
Hundreds had gathered outside John Paul II's former residence in Krakow, where yellow and white flags were draped to signify the end of the mourning period.
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