A time to heal

As the cardinals prepared to enter conclave on April 18 to elect a new pope, newspapers in Europe already had the inside scoop about how the first round of balloting would pan out.

Although all proceedings in a conclave are supposed to be kept strictly secret, subsequent leaks have apparently confirmed what the newspapers knew before the process of electing the pope even began. In the first round of voting, Cardinals Joseph Ratzinger and Carlo Maria Martini, reluctantly representing what may be described a “conservative” and a “progressive” bloc respectively, reportedly each received about 40 out of the 115 votes, with the rest spread among unknown candidates.

Next, according to leaks published in newspapers after the conclave, Cardinal Ratzinger’s position grew stronger, while Cardinal Martini’s did not. Once it was evident that the progressive group would not garner enough support for one of its candidates, Cardinal Martini reportedly threw his weight behind Cardinal Ratzinger, who was duly elected with about 100 votes.

The cardinals’ hopes and expectations may well have mirrored that of all the Church. A third wholly supported the notion of Cardinal Ratzinger becoming pope, another third sought a more progressive candidate, with the rest first looking elsewhere for suitable options. Reportedly, about 15 cardinals, 13%, still voted against Cardinal Ratzinger, for reasons we cannot know, even after Cardinal Martini’s show of unity.

Assuming the newspaper reports were true, the process of Pope Benedict’s election was instructive to all the Church.

The supporters of a progressive pope among the cardinals endorsed Cardinal Ratzinger a conservative a gesture that may well pave the way towards some sorely needed reconciliation within an increasingly polarised Church.

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI has reached out, by carefully chosen words and gestures, to those who may not at first have welcomed his election.

All this bodes well for a process of healing in the Church at a time when some Catholics presume it correct to question whether their brothers and sisters in faith have a right to call themselves Catholics; when those who seek debate on a variety of issues are told to break away in schism; and when some lay movements in the Church are viewed with ideological suspicion.

It is paradoxical that members of a Church built on the love of Christ should sometimes exhibit such hate and cynicism.

Catholics should beware of gloating in triumph or descending into a state of public despair over Pope Benedict’s election. Indeed, the pope may well surprise many those who fear the hardline, and those who count on it.

As we noted two weeks ago, the man whom his critics and supporters have perhaps too readily stereotyped is ideally suited to build bridges between Catholics, bringing the conservatives who have supported him, and the progressives who have not, closer together by dint of his reputation and demeanour.

Pope Benedict is a man of rigorous intellectual inquiry. He will surely welcome, not suppress, honest and fair debate on teachings that are not infallible, central or certain.

It is when Catholics begin to engage in open dialogue to understand one another, instead of sniping at each other, in mistrust that the divisions within the Church the wounds in the Body of Christ can be healed.

May Pope Benedict show us the way.