HONG KONG (UCAN) -- Catholic leaders in Hong Kong and Macau have welcomed Pope Benedict XVI 's election and say they hope he will soon revisit them.

The new pope visited both territories in March 1993 when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. At that time, Hong Kong and Macau were respectively British and Portuguese colonies but they have since become part of China.

When the 78-year-old cardinal was elected on April 19 to succeed the late Pope John Paul II, he took the name Benedict XVI.

Hong Kong diocese celebrated a Mass on April 25 to mark the pontiff's inauguration at the Vatican the day before. In a homily during that Mass, Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong described the new pope as one who does not escape from labor and as a person who defends the truth in love.

Bishop Zen insisted the new pope "is not a 'Rottweiler,' as dubbed by the media, nor a judge with a heart of stone." Rather, "he welcomes dialogue and with his professional expertise, patiently expounds the doctrine of faith handed down to us by the apostles." Some media dubbed Cardinal Ratzinger "God's Rottweiler" for enforcing Church doctrine in his previous position.

About 1,400 people, including consulate representatives and leaders of various religions and Christian denominations, attended the Hong Kong Mass.

The 80 or so concelebrants included retired Archbishop Joseph Ti-Kang of Taipei, who was in Hong Kong on his way back to Taipei. He later told UCA News he briefly met Cardinal Ratzinger several times when the German prelate headed Munich archdiocese in Germany. Archbishop Ti also recalled that the cardinal showed great interest in Chinese culture and history.

In nearby Macau, Bishop Jose Lai Hung-seng of Macau presided at a Mass on April 24 afternoon, just as the pope's inaugural Mass was underway at the Vatican. About 1,000 people, including government officials, attended.

Macau's churches and chapels chimed bells three times that day to welcome the new pontiff and to give thanks to God. Macau diocese also declared a holiday on April 25 for all Catholic organizations and schools.

Bishop Lai told UCA News on April 21 Pope Benedict "was close to Pope John Paul II because they worked together for 26 years." Thus, the bishop said, he expects him to continue his predecessor's "unfinished mission, such as ecumenism, interreligious dialogue and concern for Catholics in China."

Father Pedro Chung Chi-kin, vicar general of Macau diocese, told UCA News on April 26 the new pope, "with his wisdom," will cooperate with bishops "to lead the Church's evangelization ministry in the new generation."

Both Macau Church leaders said they hope he will step on Chinese soil. Hong Kong and Macau reverted to Chinese rule respectively in 1997 and 1999.

In the 1993 visit to Macau, Father Chung recalled that Cardinal Ratzinger met the then diocesan ordinary, Bishop Domingos Lam Ka-tseung, and also visited famous places, including the Ruins of Saint Paul, a local landmark.

In Hong Kong, Cardinal Ratzinger spoke at a meeting that the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences held March 2-6. He told the Asian bishops that the Church's mission is more a matter of "inter-culturality" than "inculturation." He coined the new term and urged its use, he explained, to express more precisely "the meeting of cultures" that should take place when the culture of Christian faith encounters other cultures.

Father Edward Hsueh Kwan-ho, who also met Cardinal Ratzinger during that 1993 event, told UCA News on April 25 he found him to be "a kind and humble theologian." The priest, a member of the Focolare Movement, said he chatted with Cardinal Ratzinger for a few minutes about interreligious dialogue.

Auxiliary Bishop John Tong Hon of Hong Kong told UCA News that, also in 1993, he drove Cardinal Ratzinger to meet Governor Christopher Patten, a Catholic, at the Governor's House. He also recalled that Cardinal Ratzinger met as well with the late Cardinal John Baptist Wu Cheng-chung of Hong Kong and visited Hong Kong's Holy Spirit Seminary and Holy Spirit Study Centre.

Father Dominic Chan Chi-ming, vicar general of Hong Kong, told UCA News he hopes the new pope will visit Hong Kong again. However, Father Louis Ha Ke-loon, director of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocesan Archives, says such a visit would be hard to arrange before the Holy See establishes diplomatic ties with China. Even so, Father Ha told UCA News, a visit to Hong Kong or mainland China would be "not impossible for Pope Benedict XVI."

Until now, the only pope to visit Hong Kong is Pope Paul VI. He presided before a crowd of about 15,000 at an open-air Mass in Hong Kong Stadium on Dec. 4, 1970.

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