And so the white smoke so hotly anticipated finally billowed forth from the sacred chimney, signalling that as of March 13th, 2013, the Catholic church had a new leader: he who would become known as Pope Francis, the 266th man elected to the Papacy.
A number of firsts were achieved by the election of Cardinal Bergoglio, including being the first Jesuit Pope, the first Pope from the Americas, and the first from the southern hemisphere. He is a native of Buenos Aires in Argentina, and was far from being an obvious choice - in fact, basically no one was watching him as a likely candidate, and when he walked out onto the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square, you could sense the confusion (disappointment?) in the crowd.
The bottom line was that nobody knew who it was, as he had been totally off the radar among the contenders being discussed in the media and among religious circles. He chose the name to align with Saint Francis of Asissi, and has stated that he wants the Roman Catholic church to be both "poor" as well as advocate for the poor.
Indeed, by all accounts, Cardinal Bergoglio is not likely to be as indulgent as his predecessor was in terms of all the pomp and glory, and the ceremonial dressing up as some kind of cartoonish dandy that was a trademark of Ratzinger's much more grandiose preening. When he held his first meeting with the media, for example, he came out wearing his own black shoes (bought for him by friends) and not the dandyish trademark red shoes of Benedict XVI.
I suppose if after his helicopter ride to the hills south of Rome to meet his predecessor, next week, and both were wearing the same red shoes, it could have been a clash. But Pope Francis is no Ratzinger, and he seems to live a very frugal (if not outright austere) life and could probably teach Ratzinger a whole lot about personal humility and the benefit of service with respect. But it will be a very historic meeting, that of a retired pope and a sitting pope which is hardly a common event. I doubt very much that he needs to learn anything from Ratzinger, other than maybe to stay away from the steamed pudding served on Friday nights for dessert.
So, fine, it is nice to see a more modest man in the top job, who expresses a concern for those less fortunate than most, and who will refocus the church into one that works for the poor, but that is hardly some radical groundbreaking avenue. The thing that disappointed me the most was his age: another man on the edge of being 80 years old. I cannot help but feel that this has been the root of the problem with the church, for simply ages.
Why is it that they refuse to choose someone dynamic, full of energy and vitality, and who is a sprightly 65 years old, for example? This is hardly young by any standard and yet it is more than old enough to have gained insight and wisdom, and to execute a vision for cradling the church through the troubled waters that must be navigated if there is to be any future at all?!
I don't care what anyone says, there is a bloody good reason why you never hear of people in their 70's being chosen as the CEO of companies. Well, it's rather simple actually. They have already retired, and are not considered to be youthful enough to handle the pressure and stress of the top job, anymore. So why would you take an institution as soiled as the Catholic church, that was worsened under Ratzinger's "guidance", and choose someone way past retirement age to try to rescue it and run it? It is crazy!
It's a simple fact of life that we are rarely in touch with the Zeitgeist and ways of the world, at 75 years old, or older. In fact, in the great majority of cases, one has to some extent retired from that world, too, and become more introspective and contemplative, with concerns other than the running of an institution that has over one billion faithful followers/members. How can someone at 80 years old be expected to either understand never mind deal with issues of the times, that he never lived through and has no experience of?
It would be a bit like dropping a smartphone or laptop into the hands of an 80 year old today, and saying, get on with it. Yes, yes, I can hear the bleatings about how my grandmother has an Apple Macbook or my grandfather loves his Samsung Galaxy S4, but it's far from typical - especially when we are talking about old-fashioned old school conservative types who usually get elected as Pope. It appears we are in for more of the same, in all likelihood.
The reality is that they are as out of touch with the times as the church itself is - and that has always been the problem. Francis is an outsider in terms of the Curia, and that's one heavy administrative and political hurdle that is going to be a real challenge to cross over, and get working for him. Don't forget, he was elected by the conservatives who dominate the Vatican and church leadership, and he owes them now. They didn't vote him in to become some hip trend-setting Pope who wants to do away with the rules and regulations!
Speaking of rules and regulations, and how many the church has broken in the name of the holy father, I really wanted to see a straight shooter get the top job; someone along the lines of the much-loved Cardinal Dolan of NYC. A man who would come out in the first weeks and totally clarify their disgust at the various sex scandals that are plaguing the church, and vowing to take a flamethrower and clean house, pronto. That's asking too much, I know - but it shouldn't be. Especially if they actually want to get back to business and claw back generations of lost respect and belief in recent years.
Having said that, I did hear something this morning from my own "men on the street" inside the Vatican, who whispered to me that Pope Francis has banished Cardinal Law of Boston out of Rome and into a monastery. The new pope was going to give mass in the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, and Law just couldn't resist a chance to see him, but when Francis realized it was him, he promptly issued papal orders for Law to be banished and kicked him out of his cushy apartment there. Now that is something more like it!
Law "resigned" as Archbishop of Boston back in 2002, in the midst of a disgraceful series of sex abuse scandals, wherein Law was accused of having protected what was virtually a pedophile gang of priests. Ironically, those of you who have read "A Quiet Resignation" already know this because Law made it into that book, but his fate has not been quite as fateful nor as final as that of "Father Danny"! ;) Kevin Mc
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