Episode IV: A New Pope

In this last week since the papal election, what I have loved most is seeing how much hope Pope Francis has brought to so many.  In the past few years I have been very concerned by the conversation the Catholic Church has had (or not had) with other religions.  I feel that Pope Francis is someone who will work to promote important inter-religious dialogue. 
Following shortly after the election, I saw a blog post from a friend who I had the honor of working with a few years back - Imam Yahya Hendi.  Imam Hendi is the first full-time Muslim Chaplain to be hired by a university (that university being Georgetown).  He was the Muslim Chaplain at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda for 22 years until he retired in 2011. He has traveled the world, expressing the need for interfaith dialogue.  What really impressed me about Imam Hendi when I first met him was his sincere kindness towards everyone.  I was very blessed in working for an office with five chaplains: an Imam, a Protestant Reverend, a Jewish Chaplain, a Catholic priest, and a nun.  I have had many excellent employers in my past, but none fostered an environment so full of camaraderie, cooperation and genuine respect for their coworkers.  As I saw these chaplains interact together, making the world's best puns and passionately planning out the office's next inter-religious activity, I was struck with the realization that perhaps inter-religious cooperation and positive global change are not such pipe dreams. 

I wanted to share this facebook post here in the hope that others will see that such cooperation is already taking place.  I am deeply grateful to Imam Hendi for allowing me to post his message: 


"My catholic sisters and brothers,
As-Salamu ‘Alaikum,

Let me take this moment to congratulate you and the world, including that of Islam for Pope Francis. It is a great moment in our history and I am sure the future is full of hope.

Watching him talking and praying as he appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, I was deeply touched by his self-effacing humility that our religions value highly. I was also profoundly moved by his great simplicity, amazing smile, telling a joke, and asking people to pray for him, all of which, spoke of his sense of hope, peacefulness and of deep-rooted faith in the Living God.

His remarkable choice of the name Francis, evoking the saint of Assisi and his commitment to the poor, is just an incredible message of hope for the faithful and those who believe that our religions main fight is that of social justice and to give a voice for the voiceless.

His selection as the Pope emerging from a Jesuit background is with no doubt, at least in my mind, an affirmation of the Church’s transformation and its commitment to catering for the soul and the mind of the whole person with interest in interfaith dialogue and peace building with other religions and nations. I pray for more dialogue between Muslims and Catholics, a dialogue that will help build more bridges and better relations.

Let me be honest and say that I love him more for the fact that he is known for his love of animals, including birds, and for asking people to pray for him.

May God bless those led by the Holy father, Georgetown University and the world at large.

My best prayers.

Imam Yahya Hendi"

Jorge Mario Bergoglio

Ok - so now I have to scramble to tell you what I know about the 76-year old Cardinal Bergoglio - or I should say Pope Francis I. 

1)  He is the first Latin American pope.  As a Latin American, I couldn't be more thrilled. 
2)  He is the first Jesuit to be pope.  This also is exciting since my father studied under the Jesuits.  I feel that Pope Francis will lead in keeping with the spirit and character of his order. 
3)  He is the first who has chosen the name of Francis and I find that refreshing.  Popes often take names of past popes they plan to emulate.  At the very least, it has symbolism to that pope and I see it as an extremely good sign that Pope Francis has chosen the name used by St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, who modeled his life around helping others while filling his days with humility and compassion. 
4)  Pope Francis has a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires.  Who wouldn't be fascinated by this? 

The more I read about him, the more I like him.  In 2005, when he came to the Vatican to celebrate his cardinal appointment, he apparently asked hundreds of Argentineans to not fly to Rome but instead to donate that money to the poor. 
To be honest, I did not include Pope Francis in my top 5 because he was not given the same chances of becoming pope.  I did not think that a Jesuit Latin American could win this time around but I am happy to have been proven wrong. 

I am including various links about Pope Francis so that people can be more informed about him.  I wish Pope Francis the best luck in the world for he will be shouldering quite a burden - may he do so with kindness, courage, compassion and intelligence. 

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_bergoglio_jm_en.html

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/04/3265806/argentina-has-very-different-papal.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/on-day-2-of-papal-conclave-alliances-should-take-shape/2013/03/13/5d88b616-8bba-11e2-9838-d62f083ba93f_story.html?tid=ts_carousel

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1301114.htm

http://www.startribune.com/world/197748471.html

Articles in Spanish:

http://www.lasegunda.com/Noticias/Internacional/2013/02/822277/jorge-bergoglio-arzobispo-argentino-que-disputo-con-ratzinger-sucesion-de-wojtyla (General information)

http://www.laprensa.com.ar/397285-Desde-la-Iglesia-aseguraron-que-prestaran-asistencia-a-la-mujer-que-no-fue-sometida-al-aborto.note.aspx  (Pope Francis, speaking out against abortion)

http://www.laprensa.com.ar/376850-La-Iglesia-advirtio-sobre-el-aumento-desmesurado-de-la-trata-de-personas-para-la-explotacion-sexual.note.aspx (Pope Francis, supporting nuns combating sexual exploitation of women)

http://www.aciprensa.com/noticias/matrimonio-homosexual-hiere-gravemente-a-la-familia-alerta-cardenal-bergoglio/  (Pope Francis, speaking against the bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Argentina back in 2010)

The New Pope

So the new pope is...drumroll...

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina!

More to come!

Day Two: White Smoke

Ok so as you all probably know, we have white smoke.  If you want to be as obsessive as I am, here is a link to live coverage:  
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/13/papal-conclave-chooses-pope-day-two-live-coverage?INTCMP=SRCH

I do not know who it is, but as soon as I hear, I will post. 

Day 1: Black Smoke

The black smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel shows that no pope has been elected yet.  This comes as no great surprise.  Stay tuned for more information on the other contenders. 

Papal Contenders

It's here...the early morning of the papal conclave!  All 115 cardinal electors will celebrate mass at St. Peter's Basilica.  Then into the Sistine Chapel they will go and the deliberations will begin.  For the next few days, the whole world will be watching the chimney, hoping for the white smoke which will show that a two-thirds majority has been reached regarding someone.  So who will the new pope be? 

Guessing the new pope is difficult to do considering that if a two-thirds majority cannot be reached, other candidates who are not quite front runners will emerge.  Below, I will list some of the stronger contenders and my own opinion on them. 

One of the top two contenders is Cardinal Angelo Scola, a  71 year old Italian cardinal.  A win for him, would bring the papacy back to Italy (the last two have not been Italian, an odd occurrence in an Italian-dominated position).  He is conservative and very theologically similar to the emeritus pope. 

The other top contender is Cardinal Odilo Scherer, a 63 year old cardinal from Brazil.  Cardinal Scherer is currently seen as Latin America's top choice for the papacy.  He has an impressive resume and even likes to Tweet.  My issues:  He takes very hard-line stances when it comes to same sex civil unions and abortion, to which he is adamantly opposed.  At the same time he strongly fights for social justice and has criticized the Brazilian government regarding the depletion of the Amazon jungle.  It's hard for me since I have liberal leanings on social issues and would love to see a pope with such leanings.  Cardinal Scherer would fall on the liberal side of certain issues but at the same time he could hurt other rights.  I still find him to be an intriguing candidate since let's face it - this is the Catholic Church.  There really are no liberal candidates for the pope.  As a Latin American Catholic, I would love to see a pope from my region. 

Another strong candidate is Cardinal Marc Ouellet, a 68 year old Canadian cardinal.  He is President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.  Cardinal Ouellet is described as a conservative.  He has spoken out against gay rights and abortion and has also been criticized for not speaking out against the sexual abuse scandals.  I would sooner see another North American be pope.

Africa's strongest contender is Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, a 64 year old cardinal from Ghana.  Although I would be thrilled to see an African cardinal become pope, I have my reservations here.  For starters, he is clearly conservative.  When discussing the issue of sexual abuse scandals, Cardinal Turkson stated “African traditional systems kind of protect or have protected its population against this tendency,” he said. “Because in several communities, in several cultures in Africa homosexuality or for that matter any affair between two sexes of the same kind are not countenanced in our society.”  His linking of homosexuality to the scandals is incredibly problematic.  Cardinal Turkson also screened an anti-Islam video which earned him criticism.  For more information on this candidate, look at this Huffington Post article. 

Currently my favorite papal contender is Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, a 67 year old Austrian cardinal.  He is someone not afraid to speak his mind.  He has spoken out against the sexual abuse scandals and the Church's slow response.  Cardinal Schoenborn is someone who could build bridges with the Islamic and Jewish communities.  All in all he seems like the best candidate. 


If we see white smoke tomorrow or Wednesday morning, it is likely that one of my first two contenders has been selected.  However, it is unlikely that this will occur.  A compromise candidate will probably have to be voted on.  If it turns out not be one of the men on my list, I will post about him but currently it is difficult to predict.  The Church needs someone who: is charismatic, able to take the reigns on financial matters to ensure there is no mismanaging or corruption, can further relations with other religions, will send a strong message regarding the sexual abuse scandals, should be able to think a little outside the box in order to appeal to a younger population, will be more in touch with real people and their day-to-day plights, and can hopefully pave the way for priests to marry in the near future.  All eyes will be on the Sistine Chapel for the next few days and hopefully a new pope will be selected - one who will lead with compassion and understanding.  I pray that it will be so.     

Papal Conclave Start Date

Papal Conclave to begin on Tuesday, March 12th in the afternoon.  Stay posted for an update on the various different candidates! 

The General Congregation...Day 3 and the Age Requirement

The cardinals begun the fourth General Congregation (aka: their 4th meeting) today at 9:00 a.m.  One hundred and fifty three cardinals were present.  Out of that number, 113 will be participating in the papal election.  The two cardinals who are missing are Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, archbishop of Warsaw, Poland, and Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, archbishop of Thanh-Pho Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.  The cardinal electors are all expected to be present by tomorrow.  Since it appears that the rest of the Congregation is awaiting their last two brethren in order to set a date for the papal conclave, expect to see such a date by tomorrow or Friday.  Cardinal Walter Kasper from Germany, will be a Cardinal elector despite celebrating his 80th birthday yesterday.  The rule is that the cardinals are only ineligible to vote if they have reached 80 by the day before the papal seat becomes vacant. 

This raises an interesting question about the fact that cardinals 80 or older are not allowed to vote but could potentially become the new pope.  Does this seem logical?  At first glance, it does not.  These 80 and up cardinals are all allowed to attend the General Congregation and give their input there, so why deny them the chance to actively vote?  Currently there are 40 cardinals who made it to the Vatican and yet are not eligible to vote.  The fact that they made the trip, seems to show that they are physically capable.  One hopes they would be mentally capable of making a papal selection given that they are still participating in the General Congregation and discussing issues that will have an impact on the entire Catholic Church. 
However, despite my issues with excluding some very capable cardinals from papal voting, I still see the necessity of limiting the age.  By setting a voting age requirement, a pope will always know when he has to appoint another Cardinal elector (a cardinal who votes for the pope).  He does not have to wait until someone passes away and then have to scramble to fill the position.  There is a streamlined efficiency to this that greatly pleases me - particularly when discussing the Catholic Church (which could do with a little more efficiency).  I mean look at the US Supreme Court - the justices cling to their seats until the last possible moment when either death takes them or they are sure that the current president will appoint someone most closely fitting their ideology.  This does not necessarily serve the best interests of the United States and can lead to periods where Supreme Court justice seats are vacant until the President nominates and the Senate confirms someone new.  Furthermore, because of the 79 and under requirement, the elder cardinals are not required to make the trip to the Vatican.  They can come if they want to participate in the General Congregation, but it is not a requirement for them as it is for the Cardinal electors.

Regarding the new pope, although he may be 80 or older, this is unlikely to occur.  It would be strange to elect an older pope following Pope Emeritus Benedict's resignation due to his feeling he was no longer able to carry out his papal duties.  An older pope would be faced with similar difficulties.  That being said, if there is no clear favorite for pope, the cardinals may choose an older pope they can all agree to elect (probably because he will not be pope for long).  Either way, age has an interesting dynamic within the Catholic Church. 

The First General Congregation

This morning at 9:30 a.m., the first General Congregation began as cardinals came together at the Synod of Bishops Hall in the Vatican.  At 5:00 p.m. a second General Congregation will take place.  Think of these congregations as a way to start initial, informal discussions about the likeliest candidates, as well as a forum in which to set a date for the papal conclave.  Any outstanding business which needs to be attended to in the interim between popes, will also be addressed.
Another interesting fact about the General Congregation is that cardinals over 80 can also attend these.  Since they cannot take part in the conclave and officially vote for the new pope, it is the best opportunity these older cardinals will have to express any opinions they may have on the subject. 

The date for conclave cannot be set until it is established when the 115 eligible cardinals will arrive (and by eligible I mean those able to vote for the new pope).  My guess is that the papal conclave will begin some time next week - perhaps around Wednesday to ensure someone has been selected by Monday, March 18th.  That way the new pope will have a week to prepare for his new duties as well as Palm Sunday which will then be followed by Easter, the week after.  It is difficult to say for sure though since the General Congregation needs to examine the sex scandals as well as the financial issues.  These weighty matters will take time.