Habemus Papam

It is a ceremony that is unique in its old-fashion qualities.  An announcement of epic proportion done through smoke signals – a white smoke signal that sends an electrical charge throughout the crowd outside St. Peter, filling out the square that stretches out before the famed cathedral.  Within the Eternal City, Catholics and curious onlookers from around the world, some bedecked in the colors of their country or their region, many clutching crucifixes, stood facing the Loggia of the Blessings, the balcony at the front of the St. Peter’s Cathedral.  To add to the antiquity quality of the event, the cardinal deacon Jean-Louis Tauran of France made the announcement of the new pope in Latin.  Whether devout or secular, ambivalent or rapt, all find a curiosity in the announcement Habemus papam – we have a new pope. 

I’m not Catholic but like most people, I was quite Tiggerish about the idea of a new pope and the pomp and circumstance in which it was surrounded.  So, what does the new pope mean?  Remember that this man is immediately responsible for over one billion individuals who look to him for spiritual guidance and a church that seeks direction in the face of internal and external challenges.  When the new pope announced Urbi et Orbi, therein lies his new responsibilities – to the city and to the world.  The new pope, Jesuit Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina or Francis I, must restore the trust of people in the Church but also has a role to play in continuing the efforts of Benedict XVI and John Paul II by working with the conflicts that plague the world and, in particular, the Holy Land. 

There has been much speculation that a new pope, particularly one from outside of Europe, could be a more liberal, modern one – one that might extend different attitudes towards a greater role for women, contraception and gays and lesbians.  Despite the theological problem with some of those issues, the pope is likely to be more conservative considering that all the cardinals that made up the conclave were appointed by the previous two pontiffs – both were conservative, ideological and intellectuals.  It is unlikely that Francis I will be different and it is just as well because the church does not need a theologically flexible man but a steadfast one to ward off the evils from within and the pressures from without.   

Within the square, the media sought long and hard for those who had all sorts of demands of the pontiff.  Yet Francis I, as a direct descendent of the man Jesus entrusted with the keys to the kingdom of heaven, cannot afford to play fast and loose with the dictates of the Church.  Modernity and its demands are not a concern, nor should it be, of the church or the Holy Father.  The late Cardinal John O’Connor, the bishop of New York, once said that it was not the responsibility of the Church to bow to the sins of the congregation but it falls upon the adherents to rise to the standard of the Church and Christ.     

The pope has challenging years ahead.  At the age of 76, he does not have much time, one would surmise, to act upon his interests.  While a new pope suggests new possibilities, this man, by all accounts a humble one, shall be tested in quick order.  As Catholics throughout the world pray for their new leader, we all can play a role in making things better.  Perhaps we has Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists can all extend our own prayers to help put an end to what troubles us in this world.  It certainly could not hurt.