Communist secret police spied on Pope

BERLIN, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The secret police of former communist East Germany, the Stasi, from 1974 on has kept a file on Pope Benedict XVI.

Just as his predecessor in office, the late Pope John Paul II, the German pontiff Joseph Ratzinger was kept under a tight watch from the Stasi for his "anti-communist" views, the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported. Up to eight Stasi officers collected material on the Pope, who first entered the radar of the communists when he criticized the East German regime as a university professor in Erfurt in April of 1974.

Ratzinger, who was elected pontiff earlier this year, was seen by the Stasi as one of the "fiercest opponents of communism," the newspaper quoted official Stasi material. They feared he would "increasingly have influence over the anti-communist bias of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in Latin America."

The Stasi speculated as early as 1979 that the young priest would soon be called to Rome. As Ratzinger was one of John Paul II's closest companions, the Stasi believed the German was "rallying up support for the Polish opposition," the files said.

The newspaper printed excerpts of the documents. The pope had officially given his OK to release the files, the newspaper said.