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But he is no rigid Pius XII in his approach to the new scientific issues of the age. When the first test-tube baby was born and some Catholic theologians condemned the experiment, Luciani said in an interview, "I extend the warmest wishes to the English girl. As for the parents, I have no right to condemn them. Subjectively, if they acted in good faith and with good intentions, they could even gain great merit before God."
Then, his pastoral point made, Luciani continued, "Progress is a great thing, but not all progress is good for man. Will not science bear the appearance of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, who scatters mighty forces without, however, being able to dam or dominate them? Could there not be danger of a new industry arising, that of manufacture of children? The individual conscience must always be followed, but the individual must make an effort to have a well-formed conscience. Conscience, indeed, does not have the duty of creating law, but of informing itself first on what the law of God dictates."
Luciani is a man who is not afraid to change his mind. He kept a low profile at the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and admitted afterward, "The part that caused me most problems was that on religious liberty. For years I had been teaching his [Vatican Cardinal Alfredo Otta-viani's] theories about law, according to which only the true Roman Catholic religion has rights. I convinced myself, however, that we had been wrong."
Given the new Pope's flexibility, any predictions about his papacy—liberal, middle-of-the-road or conservative—are perilous. Above all, the Cardinals seemed to want a pastoral figure, and they selected a man with no experience in the Vatican bureaucracy or diplomatic service. John Paul is a quietly genial man whose priests find him approachable. He is also the third Patriarch of Venice to become Pope in this century. The first was Pius X.* The second was John XXIII, a beloved figure of reform.
The new Pope paid homage to both John and Paul in choosing his name, but he also made it clear that he would be neither John XXIV nor Paul VII. Said Baltimore's liberal Lawrence Cardinal Shehan: "Perhaps we can take it as a sign of his independence." "The name is of great importance," said José Miguez Bonino, a Protestant liberation theologian in Argentina and an honorary president of the World Council of Churches. "It shows that the new Pontiff is ready to continue with the program of reforms launched by the Vatican Council."
Luciani's name had first been floated in the preconclave period by Carlo Confalonieri, 85, the dean of the College of Cardinals. Respected among the "foreigners" as well as the Italians, Confalonieri was ineligible for the conclave himself because of Paul's ban on those 80 and over.
The other pivotal personality in Luciani's camp was Giovanni Cardinal Benelli of Florence, for years Pope Paul's right-hand man as the No. 2 official in the Vatican Secretariat of State. "Benelli spoke of Luciani to many of the other Cardinals," said an Italian prelate. At 57, Benelli proved too young to become Pope. Still, he seemed to be the leading Pope-maker of the 1978 conclave, and figures to be a prime contender at the next one.