Pub owner pleased pope shares German heritage
by Cindy Larson

April 20, 2005  |  The News-Sentinel

Tony Henry predicts Benedict XVI will "stand in John Paul's shadow."

It would have been hard to find anyone in Fort Wayne happier than Tony Henry about the selection of the new pope.

The owner of Deer Park Lodge Irish Pub on the corner of Spring Street and Leesburg Road already had a sign up in front of his establishment Tuesday afternoon: "WE HAVE A POPE! PROST!! BENEDICT XVI" Henry, who's German-Catholic, was elated with the selection of German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to succeed Pope John Paul II for one simple reason: "He shares some of my ethnic origins."

"Prost" is German for "cheers," Henry explained.

He expected the crowd Tuesday night to hoist a glass or two of German beer in honor of Pope Benedict XVI. "This Irish pub is prosting him (the new pope) in German," he said.

Henry heard about the new pope Tuesday morning when his wife, who teaches at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Fort Wayne, called him at the bar to share the news. "I did a carpe diem," he said. "I seized the day."

In addition to the message on his marquee, he ordered two cases of the German beer Warsteiner to mark the occasion. Henry even went so far as to follow a reporter from The News-Sentinel as she left his bar, just to spread the word that the Warsteiner would be on the house Tuesday night.

Henry's enthusiasm didn't exactly spread to students across the street from his bar at the University of Saint Francis. About a dozen students on the campus of the Catholic university who were approached by The News-Sentinel on Tuesday either weren't Catholic or had little or no opinion of the new pope.

Henry, however, has followed news on the former Cardinal Ratzinger for years. "I think he will stand in John Paul's shadow," he said. "He's probably going to continue John Paul's legacy forward."

That being said, Henry was willing to make a prediction about what Pope Benedict XVI's successor will be like. He expects Pope Benedict to continue in Pope John Paul II's conservative vein, but predicts the next pope will be more liberal-leaning.

Illustration:PHOTO (2)

Christian Winebrenner updates the Deer Park Lodge Irish Pub sign on Tuesday, adding a German "Prost" (cheers) to the good wishes for the new pope. The German-Catholic owner of the bar, Tony Henry, was happy at the choice of pontiff. Photo By Steve Linsenmayer of The News-Sentinel Henry: Bought German beer to celebrate