A man for all seasons

by Editor · April 20, 2005

It is a mark of the pervasive nature of Pope John Paul II’s pontificate that the nature of his successor should have attracted unprecedented media interest.

John Paul II reshaped and, to a significant extent, redefined the papacy. The new pope, whose identity was unknown at the time of writing, will have to adopt some of his predecessor’s qualities.

For example, John Paul II was more accessible than any pope in modern times. Indeed, by meeting world leaders and garbage collectors alike, and by performing sacraments even on ordinary lay Catholics, John Paul II went a long way towards demystifying the papacy.

The new pontiff will face not only the legacy of his predecessor, but also challenges in areas not fully explored in John Paul II’s pontificate.

Questions of Church governance will rank high among the episcopate, clergy and laity alike. A frequent concern is that in the past pontificate, the office of the residential bishop has been diminished. Collegiality has had to defer to greater centralisation. In terms of governance, bishops are now less successors of the apostles than regional branch managers.

If decentralisation forms part of the new pope’s mandate, he will need the vigour and courage to challenge what might be a resistant curia.

The new pope will inherit a Church that faces challenges in various parts of the world, all of which require intervention and innovation.

In Europe, the Church’s influence is being eroded fundamentally by rampant secularism and, worse, indifference to religion. In many countries, vocations have been reduced to a trickle. Soon there will be too few priests to serve even the dwindling congregations.

In Latin America, the Church is rapidly losing members to Pentecostal churches, especially in Brazil, the country with the world’s largest Catholic population.

In Asia, the Church finds great potential for evangelisation, but in many regions must find an accommodation with Islam, and in India with radical Hinduism.

And in Africa, where the Church is growing rapidly, questions of inculturation and a growing assertiveness of continental identity will require an appropriate Church response.

The new pope will need to preside over the development of a theology of Aids, one that recognises the realities not of the West but of those regions worst affected.

He will also need to address such issues as the growing polarisation within the Church (which reaches absurd proportions when one set of Catholics questions whether others may call themselves Catholics), the formation of priests, questions of bio-ethics, engagement with other denominations and religions (in particular with Islam), and the growth of lay movements and their impact on parish life and episcopal authority. He will also need to engage a laity that is increasingly rejecting Church teachings.

In all this, the new pope won’t undo the legacy of John Paul II. But in areas where he may depart from his predecessor’s path, he must be free to innovate.

Indeed, when in his last testament John Paul II questioned whether he still was the right man for the job as the 21st century dawned, he implicitly gave his successor a licence not to be shackled by the past pontificate.

Nevertheless, invariably comparisons will be made. The glare of the media will illuminate the long shadow of John Paul II into which the new pope steps.

As Catholics, we must beware of measuring the new pontiff against his predecessor. Whoever the new pope is, and wherever he hails from, the new Vicar of Christ is a unique personality with unique gifts facing new challenges.

May our prayers be with him.