If you thought by reading the title of my post today that I am going to give my opinion on what the new Pope of the Catholic Church should be like, you are at least partially correct. It seems that this time around, with the conclave of cardinals in Rome working towards deciding on who will be the head of the Catholic Church, that everyone and their mother has an opinion on who the next Pope should be, what he should do, how he should act, and the message he should convey. I am not going to go to that extent, but I do have some thoughts on at least a few ways in which the new Pope, whomever it may be, can perhaps turn the tide of diminishing Catholics. While the cardinals who decide the next Pope rarely pick someone young, meaning under the age of 60, I believe that perhaps it is time to search through the plethora of priests and cardinals to find one who can give a new face to the Church, albeit one that is in line with its teachings and beliefs. That isn't to say that an older priest or cardinal can't lead the Church into the 21st century, but I feel that it is harder for someone of an elder age to truly connect with the younger generation of Catholics that are seeking guidance from the Church's leaders on a host of issues. I am not going to get into the issues that many feel need to be addressed. Rather, I want to speak to the enduring image that Rome seems to create for itself that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is infallible. If we look at the past 13 years, the start of the 21st century, there have been myriad issues that have plagued the Catholic Church and driven many people away. The main focus of those issues has been sexual abuse of minors at the hands of priests. Yet, rather than acting judiciously and with an open forum for all to see, the Church has attempted for decades to hide the problem, move the problem around instead of resolving it, and only when it comes to law suits, does it actually find the gumption to admit malfeasance and act to remedy any wrong doing. In my mind, it is time for priests to stop getting shuffled around surreptitiously when they commit heinous acts, and be dealt with in an open manner. Is it the Catholic belief that all sins can and should be forgiven? Yes, and I still believe that these men can be forgiven, however, forgiveness begins with the admitting to wrong doing and asking for that forgiveness to be granted. I have not heard of one priest asking to be forgiven, and if they have, I haven't heard about it.
Enough about the scandals, the shuffling around of priests to hide problems, and time to move forward. Perhaps what we need is a papal statement saying that all priests are, as we suspect, human and capable of sin. If we start there, then perhaps we can all move towards forgiveness, however hard it may be for some. What we need now is a Pope who won't hide behind closed doors but admit the Church's shortcomings and come up with a plan to move past them, to put all scandals behind it, and to start fresh. I firmly believe that any priest who committed acts of sexual abuse should be stripped of their priestly duties. If we start the new Papacy with a dedicated move to remove the priests who preyed on young children, then perhaps we can re-invigorate the Catholic faith instead of stagnating it. The second step is to address the issue, find out what caused these men to act the way they did, and find solutions to prevent it from ever happening again. As horrible as it may sound, we need to make an example of those priests who acted improperly and let it be known that nothing will be covered up again. If we start from that point, perhaps these scandals, though diminished over the years, can finally be put behind us. Lets be honest here, no matter what we do, all ordained priests, deacons, cardinals, etcetera will remain human. Save Jesus, there has been no point where a priest has been anything other than human. They may be holy, but they are still human. And don't get me wrong here, out of all the priests I have known over the years, none has been involved in a scandal and I have looked up to almost every single one, not because they are holier than I am, but because they are indeed leaders of their local Churches. Perhaps Rome and its exalted cardinals should take a few hints from the local priests here and begin to admit to being human and having the capacity to sin. Every single priest I have known, but most notably the pastor of my Church, admits to being fallible and actually sinning. Yet again, this is my opinion and probably not one that is held by those in the higher echelons of the Church.
So where do we go from here? Only time will tell at this point. For all the opinions and recommendations that people make, the decision as to who will be the next Pope is entirely out of our hands. We can hope for a new start, pray for one, but in the end it all comes down to the cardinals and the direction they feel that the Church needs to go in. Judging by the past years that the late Pope Benedict resided as leader of the Church, I don't necessarily feel that we will be moving into the 21st century with our new Pope. There has been a movement away from the changes that opened up the Church and a slide back towards more formality, more exclusiveness rather than inclusiveness, and a general feeling that Rome is out of touch with the people. For what its worth, I will remain Catholic regardless of who the new Pope is or how he decides to lead the Church in the coming years, I just may not like it. My beliefs are rooted in the teachings of Jesus and the Bible, not in what the Pope, Cardinals, or priests say I should believe. Yes, they help in interpreting the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, but in the end, it is strictly those teachings as I understand them that guide my life. As such, I will continue to live as I have, regardless of the changes that may come in the Church. I only hope that perhaps this new Pope will set a different course, bring the Church back to the people, and set a new course of hope and growth. We shall see.
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