Electing a new pope

by Editor · February 27, 2013

This week we say farewell to Pope Benedict XVI, the first pope since 1294 to have voluntarily relinquished the office of the papacy.

Pope Benedict XVI leads his final Angelus as pope from the window of his apartment overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Feb. 24. His papacy will officially end Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. Rome time. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

In our special supplement, we cover various aspects of the pontificate of Benedict XVI and the experience some have had of it, and advertisers offer personal words of appreciation to a pope who in less than eight years has made a profound and lasting impact on the Church.

A copy of this edition�which we hope makes for more edifying reading than some of the uninformed writings which Catholics have encountered in the secular media�will be sent to Pope Benedict via the official channels.

And as one pope leaves the office, thoughts invariably turn to his successor. The identity of the next pope will be revealed once the cardinal-electors, guided by the Holy Spirit, have reached their decision. In the interim there will be much speculation.

The bookmakers wasted little time in offering odds on different papabili, real or imagined. Catholics are, of course, proscribed from placing bets on the outcome of a conclave. In any case, the Holy Spirit takes no cue from the bookies.

Catholics are entitled, however, to express their hopes and expectations for the new papacy, and the cardinal-electors would do well to take these into account in their deliberations.

The cardinals will doubtless be aware of the challenges and problems the new successor of St Peter will face, and of the foundations laid by previous popes, modern and ancient, on which he will build.

The New Evangelisation project was formally launched only a few months ago. Since it is directed especially at regions that are rapidly secularising, it is likely that cardinals will consider candidates with the attributes to fruitfully continue this important mission.

Such candidates will need to be able to speak the language of the world. They would understand the culture of the mission fields, while also supporting the Church�s engagement in traditional mission territories.

To connect with those whom the Church seeks to address, especially young people, the new pope would need to be able to formulate the Catholic message clearly and in suitable language. At the same time, he would need the erudition with which to address Catholics at every level.

The new pope will also have to speak to the joy and hope, and the grief and anguish of the faithful and of all mankind.

In doing so he would continue Pope Benedict�s powerful witness in responding to the scandal of global poverty and address the persecution which so many Christians face around the world.

This will require great personal courage in speaking out prophetically and, at the same time, the attributes of diplomacy, so that his commitment for the poor and oppressed not be misunderstood and used as a weapon against the Church and her followers.

The new pope will inherit, as many of his predecessors did, a divided Church in which many followers of Christ cast a hostile glance at fellow believers. He will be aware of various reformist and orthodox tendencies in the Church, all acting in what they believe to be the interest of the Church.

The new pope will, ideally, be a man who can build bridges between Catholics of different, sometimes opposing perspectives. He must be able to turn our eyes on what unites us: the mission of the Church of Christ and the ultimate hope of salvation.

The new pope will also inherit a Roman curia which is facing certain problems. The illegally leaked papers, the veracity of the content of which has not been challenged, suggest that a measure of curial renewal may be timely.

The cardinals who will meet to elect the new pope will have their own areas of priority. We must pray for them as they enter conclave burdened by the knowledge that their decision will be momentous.

May they hear the voice of the Holy Spirit who is always present, and may the pronouncement of habemus papam signal a new fruitful era for the Church.