TO ROME WITH LOVE

ON THE ELECTION OF A SUCCESSOR TO HIS HOLINESS, BENEDICT XVI

To Their Eminences, the College of Cardinals in Holy Conclave:

Brothers and fathers in Christ,

You will not read this blog post. First, because you are not able when sequestered in conclave, and secondly because I'm neither important enough nor in the right circles of orbit to have an opinion which registers as mattering on anyone's radar. Yet I have some thoughts upon the subject, and so will opine.

I am startled to find that the election of a successor to the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, matters more to me as a Protestant Christian than I would have thought possible. Perhaps this is because the Bishop of Rome, at his best, is a leader of stature across all Christian traditions and connections. Perhaps it is because among all the world leaders of Christianity, he is the most visible. Or perhaps it is because I dare to believe that the future of the influence of the Roman communion can be, on a geopolitical level, better than it too often has been in the past. Because we must be able to communicate well with those of other, even antithetical, religious traditions. Because I know too many American Catholics who are frustrated with their church for a variety of reasons, yet continue to seek solace from her as a mother. Or maybe it's because I also am foolish enough to possess the temerity to think that maybe, just maybe, in a 100-year period that has already seen two popes of once-in-500-year stature (John XXIII and John Paul II), there might be a third.

In the end, I cannot say that I'm fully in touch with all the reasons that this election matters to me. But it does.

Pope Benedict's break with tradition, being the first pope in several hundred years to resign, seems to me to be a hopeful thing, and not a cause for distress. He saves himself, the church, and the world the spectacle of a doddering, kindly but inept, pontiff hanging on until the last while everyone keeps watch for his demise and potential successors jockey for position. The surprise resignation creates a sudden vacuum where there is something of a small crisis, and some creativity is called for and there's a moment of freedom without precommitments, at least one hopes. (Incidentally, the media is wrong about this being the first time there will be two living popes at the same time. This happened from time to time in the Middle Ages and early modern period during the Avignon papacy or "Babylonian captivity of the Church". Sometimes there were even three: an Avignese, a Roman, and a Pisan pope. The difference will be that both will be recognized in some fashion as pope by the whole church.)

I hope fervently that the new pontiff will be from the Third World. It is a global connection, the Roman Church; and it is growing most rapidly and apparently healthfully in Africa and Latin America. While it would be gratifying for me as an American to see a North American installed, and proud as a United States-er to see one from my country (i.e., Sean Patrick O'Malley of Boston, Timothy Dolan of New York, or even Marc Ouellet of Quebec), I think there are too many reasons not to select someone from this continent. There is too much power concentrated here already for it to be good for a major communion's supreme leader to be picked from here. And there would be pressure for certain kinds of "progressive" policies to be made, which may not be in the pastoral interest of large portions of the world.

But a pontiff from a land where there is much more poverty and powerlessness would speak volumes about the work and mission of the Church. And a person of color would add icing to that cake. Odilo Pedro Scherer of Sao Paolo (he even has the right name, "Peter"), Leonardo Sandri of Buenos Aires, Robert Sarah of Conakry, Luis Tagle of Manila (at 55 very young for a candidate), Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa (from the second-poorest country in this hemisphere), or Albert Don of Colombo (from one of the poorest in the world), would be wonderful picks, just to name a few of the possibilities. And these, from more conservative archdioceses, could as needed make the case for reform with greater persuasiveness where appropriate, than a European and definitely than an American. And Laurent Pasinya (D.R. Congo) has credentials as a peacemaker which are impressive. (At 73, he is one of the older candidates; yet the elevation of the aging Bishop Angelo Roncalli as John XXIII should give us pause about dismissing him out of hand.)

I would also hope that the new pontiff might do something substantive to help heal the rift between East and West which has essentially prevailed since 1054, as well as the western rift with Protestantism. This would be huge.

There are irreconcilable differences between some religious traditions, based on beliefs if not ethics. However, it is imperative in any age -- and especially in ours -- that global religious leaders be humanitarians who have a basic love for all of God's human children. John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II all embodied this. My hope would be that the next pontiff will do the same.

To borrow from the old Anthony Quinn movie, he stands "in the shoes of the fisherman". May Peter's next successor have something of the first Peter's dash and daring, to do the Lord's work is risky and creative ways. The world needs that. Whether one is Roman Catholic, Protestant, or something altogether other.

(Prince Frederick, Maryland)