You can believe it! While most of the world, both within and beyond the confines of the Church, seem to be extraordinarily well pleased with this new pope from the Third World, there are murmurs of discontent from some.
It seems that many traditionalists on the right are fearful that the new pope will finally implement many of the changes that many of us had hoped would come out of the Second Vatican Council.
One of the conservative Catholic blogs had this to say. “This is one of the worst possible men to be elected pope if you are a traditionalist. This is totally depressing. The last one out of the Church please turn off the lava lamp.” A journalist in Buenos Aires, writing for conservative blog Rorate-Caeli, “Of all the unthinkable candidates Jorge Mario Bergoglio is perhaps the worst.” said Mario Gonzales calling Francis “A sworn enemy of the traditional Mass.”
And here is a good one. Adam DeVille, a theology professor at the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne, implies that it is time that conservatives start being less concerned about what the pope does or says.
“Yes, he is the Bishop of Rome. Yes, he has a special place in the Church. But people need to wean themselves off looking to him constantly and assuming that everything he does we have to do.”
Wow! How quickly things can change!

Pope Francis presents us with such a dramatic shift in his mode of operation as Bishop of Rome and Chief Shepherd of the Universal Church, that it is only natural to see here or there a little pushing back. This is especially true by those Catholicis who have never been reconciled with celebrating the Sacraments- espeically the mass- in the language of the people. They hunger for Latin. However, today, I find that most of us are somewhat deficient in Latin.

I for one, am wonderfully excited by the hope, the optimism, the simplicity, and the innate goodness of this quiet man from Argentina. Long may he reign, but may he also retire with a few years left to enjoy being out of office.
Onward through the fog.

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Do you remember him? It has been only a matter of weeks since Joseph Ratzinger, aka. Benedict XVI, took the historic and generous step of resigning from the Chair of St. Peter. During these few weeks, the sudden arrival of a startlingly friendly, relaxed, smiling Pope, in the person of Francis (not Francis I…yet) has overcome the media of the world. Yet, many people already seem to be forgetting his very important predecessor.
Benedict XVI was an extraordinary person- wonderfully erudite, compulsive and generous worker for his Lord. He assumed the burden of the papacy in his mid-70′s. He also is following a pope who for twentyfive years had dominated the world stage. There is nothing wrong with that, but Benedict was essentially a scholar, committed to teaching- not administration. Benedict’s teachings are important now and will be important twenty years from now, long after people stop snickering about the factor that it was “the butler who stole the correspondence.”
His encyclicals, Charity in Truth, Saved by Hope, and On Christian Love-God is Love, provide us with beautiful spiritual reading, and present a theme of deep spirituality and profound committment to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This theme was clearly and forcefully embodied in the life that Benedict XVI lived as priest, bishop and pope.
While in office, Benedict XVI was criticized by some for being almost as conservative as John Paul II, and it was especially noted that he encouraged a wider use of the Tridentine liturgy (the Latin mass). Interestingly, I mentioned the other day, that some people are already criticizing Pope Francis, and one of their great concerns is that he discouraged the use of the Latin mass in Buenos Aires.
May God Bless Pope Benedict XVI and reward him for his goodness.

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Habemus Papam!We have a Pope! Excitement spread instantly across the Catholic world.It’s not the whole world of course, but it is a sizable portion of it. One billion, two hundred million Roman Catholics now will be served by a new Bishop of Rome- the 266th successor of St. Peter, who will be known as Pope Francis. Only hours have passed since the announcement as I write this, and although news is pouring out about what the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is like, I believe it will take awhile before we really know how he will lead the Church through what has turned out to be an extraordinarily difficult and dangerous time.

Here is what I do know: He has taken the name of Francis, a name that symbolizes concern for the poor and commitment to peace. Since that name has NEVER been used in the previous popes, it also symbolizes a new start, a fresh beginning. Speaking personally, what I (John McCarthy) like is that he has moved out of the Cardinal’s palace, given up his chauffeured limousine and has been riding the bus to work in Buenos Aires! Throw in that he cooks his own meals, and I think we are off to a great start!
Pope Francis has asked all of us to pray for him- Let’s get busy!
God bless Pope Francis!

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Benedict XVI is going to go down in history as a very real hero. Hero? Yes, indeed. Tradition is such a powerful force in the life of the Catholic Church that it takes extraordinary courage to go against it and Benedict did that last month when he announced that he would be resigning as the 265th Bishop of Rome. There were only three other resignations in the 2,000 year history of the Church and in each of those situations it was brought about by very special circumstances. Benedict, with a clear mind and in relatively good health, announced that it was time for a younger person to take over. Today, the Petrine Office is vacant. The cardinals have gathered and I am sure that within the next week or ten days we will see an elderly cardinal walk in out into that magnificent balcony of St. Peter’s and tell the excited crowd of several hundred thousand, “Habemus Papam!” – we have a pope.
Who will it be and, more importantly, what kind of Supreme Pontiff will he be? Most commentators say that there are only two possible directions for the new pope to take. He could reach back and recommit himself to tradition and continue doing, and in the same manner, that which has been going on for the last 30 or 40 years, the slow de-emphasizing of the Second Vatican Council. Or that new pope, blessed with the grace of the office, could recommit himself to the work of the 2,500 bishops of the Second Vatican Council and triumphantly announce that the Church is recommitting itself in an explosive manner to its missionary nature, that it will present the message of Jesus Christ with all of its joy and triumph in a way that will be unencumbered by the barnacles of time but will be pristine, pure, clean and precise. And with that, there will be that which recent popes have called for and pleaded for but were not able to see themselves free to do – move the Church forward to a world that is awaiting it and desperately needs it.
May God bless the new pope, whoever he is.
 

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In a few more weeks, the Roman Catholic Church will have a new leader. He will be the 266th successor of St. Peter. He will assume an awesome task. The burdens of his office will not simply be the complexities of the Universal Church operating in virtually every country in the world and having a billion, two hundred million members. He will find a Church that in many ways is experiencing serious internal conflict, dogmatically and structurally.
It would be wonderful if the first day that the pope stepped into office, assumed the tiara, that he would have a really first-rate staff around him but sadly the Curia itself has been badly divided and in conflict and one of the first things that the new pope will have to do is bring order and efficiency to the Roman Curia. I believe with all my heart that the pope will enjoy the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Such guidance, of course, relates to the central doctrines of the Church, the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. There is no real connection between that divine gift and day-to-day administrative effectiveness. That is a very earthy skill and not every pope has had it.
Seriously, let’s do pray for the man who is among us now but in a few weeks will see his life changed dramatically.

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They say it has been more than 600 years since a Pope retired, and only three have done it in 2000 years, so it certainly is a noteworthy event!

Serious Catholics are almost all vitally interested in the upcoming election. They hope and pray that a Cardinal will be elected who has the faith, vision, courage and strength to lead our Church during this very difficult time.
You know the list: sexual scandals, inadequate clergy, doctrinal conflict, persecution in the Islamic countries, etc. etc. The new Pope will have his work cut out for him.

But Catholics are not the only ones who are interested in this election. Millions of others, of widely varying faiths, will be watching the evening news with fascination. Why? It’s because this news will,in many ways, take them back six or seven hundred years. Most leaders in today’s world do not sit on thrones. Our White House and Capitol are not nearly as inspiring as St. Peter’s and its Piazza. The method of communicating the election of a new Pope is certainly strange, but delightful! If they fail to elect a new Pope, they burn wet straw on a tiny stove in the corner of the Sistine Chapel, thereby emitting black smoke from above the Papal palace. If a new Pope is elected, the smoke is white. Both messages, of course, depend heavily on the wind of the day. My guess is that there is about a billion dollars worth of communications equipment down in the Piazza and in the surrounding balconies, all looking for that precious white smoke.
Back to the serious side, a Roman Catholic Pope can be a tremendous source for good in the world, so everyone- whether they be of the Catholic faith or not- should be hoping for an outstanding new leader. Have the straw ready!

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In the early days of this nation, the Catholic bishops were very much distrusted. They were constantly accused of intending to bring the pope over to run this country. A rather absurd idea, isn’t it? But it was widespread throughout the 19th century. In reaction, the American bishops developed a very fine policy of leaning over backwards to avoid electoral politics. They never, ever endorsed individual political candidates. This has been a very good policy and was maintained so strictly over the years that the suspicions of a papal takeover fell into the absurd rubbish heap from whence it has sprung.

Now, however, that long and wise tradition seems to be somewhat threatened, at least by some individual bishops. There are 300 bishops in the country and most of them remain quiet during the election but a number of them, including at least five of them, very aggressively pushed their parishioners to vote against President Obama. At least one of these bishops compared Obama to Hitler and others warned that a vote for Obama puts one soul in jeopardy. It is interesting that all five of these bishops were in blue states which Obama carried handily.

The bishops are currently having their annual November meeting in Baltimore. I am hopeful that there will be a great deal of discussion as to the wisdom of this new and dangerous trend. The traditional policy of avoiding direct involvement in electoral politics has served the Church well. I feel very strongly that we should hold to it. Failure to do so can have very negative repercussions that I think most of the bishops want to avoid.

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On October 11th, Benedict XVI celebrated the golden jubilee of the opening of the Second Vatican Council with a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. That date 50 years ago began a four-year process revitalizing the 2,000-year-old institution which we call the Church. At the conclusion of the fourth session in 1965, the bishops would scatter back across the world and undertake the difficult task of implementing four years of prayer, study and renewal. The Council itself and the years to follow would represent an extraordinary transition in the life of the Church, a transition that would produce different responses in different segments of the Christian community.

Regretfully, a half century has had a daunting affect on the human memory. There is not a bishop alive today who attended the Council. Very few priests under 75 have any real memory of it. There are hundreds of millions of Catholics across the world that it is simply an oft-repeated name that does not carry too much weight in their day-to-day lives.

Despite these facts, the Council was the most important ecclesiastical event in 100 years and was only the third meeting of the bishops across the world since the Council of Trent closed its doors after the final session in 1547. Vatican I was short and incomplete. Its primary concern was defining certain aspects of the papacy but then was interrupted by the Civil War in 1870. Regretfully, it was interrupted before it clarified the office of bishop in the life of the Church.

In 1961, I don’t remember the exact date, Giuseppe Roncalli, Pope John XXIII, was gloriously reigning and at a major liturgical celebration at the Vatican he rather casually announced that he was going to call another Council that would be Vatican Council II. He seems to have made this announcement without a detailed discussion with his key staff members and they were thrown into a certain amount of disarray. Reports from that time relate that key Vatican Cardinals attempted to dissuade the Holy Father from going forward with the Council. He did not heed their advice and the Council began on October 11, 1962 with 2,500 bishops present.

Since the Curia officials were not able to block the opening of the Council, they made every effort to control its activities and when the bishops arrived their helpful Vatican staff handed them a sizable stack of documents ranging over a number of problems and issues (as the Curia saw them)! The bishops were expected to study them and make them the working papers for the Council. There was almost instant revolt and one of the leaders in the rejection of these staff documents was Cardinal John Cody of Chicago. This was the first indication that American prelates would be having a real influence in this modern Council.

Tomorrow I will talk about the next events. This was really an exciting and encouraging period where people had great hope for true and profound revival in the life and functioning of the Roman Catholic Church.

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From time to time in this space, I like to talk or even brag about the size of the Church, its universality across the planet and its constant pursuit of unity. Although there are always problems present, I have given the Church high marks in this area but have we entered, over the last few decades, into a new story in the life of the Church? The unity and doctrine is fairly consistent but respect for authority and leadership is now frequently questioned.

If you step back and watch the planet spinning through space, you will see many situations all across the globe. There is trouble in Australia, rebellion in Germany, tension in the United States, hostility in Ireland and so on. How has the Church been responding to these many and varied upheavals? I would like to quote from Robert Mickens of the London Tablet when in June he said that the biggest problem of the Church is not about communications, as serious as that issue is, but is the absence of a “governing strategy.”

“The head of an organization of 1.2 billion faithful, which is the Catholic Church, needs a program of governance.”

The author of that statement went on to say that despite the many internal and external structural problems facing the Church, the principal one is that it is still governed like an absolute monarchy.

“Even the Holy See has to realize that in the 21st century every authority, even the most ancient, must respond to public opinion about its actions, omissions and mistakes. English speakers call this accountability.”

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I recently was bragging about the unity that marks Roman Catholicism. I then turned to touch on problems and movements that have threatened that unity in the past and continue to do so until this day. I covered heresy the other day. Now let’s take a look at the two other problem areas that threaten the Church; namely, schism and apostasy.

Schism is defined as the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him. Remember, now, I am writing from a Roman Catholic perspective. The best examples of this in today’s world are the Orthodox churches in Greece, Russia and the Balkins as well as their members currently scattered all over the world. The Orthodox, of course, do not consider themselves to be in schism. They contend that it is the Roman Catholics who are guilty of this offense against unity!

The key point here is that it is a question of accepting authority and not doctrines of faith. After recognizing the authority of the Bishop of Rome for one thousand years, Orthodox leaders in Constantinople began to reject it. Rome was no longer an important city while Constantinople had become the most important city in the world. Many of the Orthodox teachers believed that the influence of Rome was because of its importance in the first century and that this world had now changed. When you look at the two theologies there is an overwhelmingly sameness in beliefs, whether it be about the Triune God, the divinity of Christ, the seven sacraments, the nature of the Church, etc., etc. When you take a look at that you get another insight into the fact that the Church’s disunity, while painful, is not as bad as some people first see. Remember, there are approximately one billion, three hundred million Roman Catholics in the world and another half billion or so (I don’t have hard statistics at my fingertips) Orthodox, so nearly two billion Christians in the world hold essentially the same doctrinal benefits. Add the hundreds of millions of our Protestant brothers and sisters who also share happily an extraordinary commonality in the message of Jesus, and you can see that the missionaries have done a moderately good job over the centuries! The task is far from being complete, but we need to encourage ourselves that we are on the way.

The third cause of disunity is apostasy and this is the saddest of the three. In both heresy and schism, one can presume good will but in general, we consider apostasy a failure of the will, a rejection of belief. Apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith, total rejection of God’s love for the human family and the salvific life and actions of Jesus of Nazareth. This is by someone or some people who once had the gift of faith. That is what makes it really sad.

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