U.S. welcomes new pope

WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department has officially welcomed the Tuesday election of German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the Roman Catholic Church's new pope.

"We look forward to working with His Holiness and the Holy See to build upon our already bilateral relationship and to promote human dignity across the world," deputy department spokesman Adam Ereli said.

In Vatican City Tuesday, the College of Cardinals elected Ratzinger to succeed Pope John Paul II who died earlier this month. Ratzinger took the papal name Benedict XVI.

The Bush administration has had traditionally good ties with the Vatican on social issues such as abortion, but John Paul II had criticized the U.S.-led war in Iraq.