Weigel writes over at First Things:
In Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church, published just before Pope Benedict XVI’s stunning announcement of his resignation, I suggest seven such qualities.
A profound and transparent faith. The pope must be so convinced of the Catholic symphony of truth, and so transparent to it in his own life, that he readily invites others into friendship with Jesus Christ, simply by being who and what he is. The preaching, catechetics, and teaching are important, but they come “after” transparency to Christ and his love.
Natural resilience amplified by grace. The pope must be able to draw from the wellspring of his prayer an abundance of energy, patience, endurance, and compassion. The pope knows the wickedness and evil sins of the world in macrocosm and the sorrows of individual men and women in microcosm. The grace of strength needed to bear that burden of knowledge without being crushed by it must build on a natural physical and psychological hardiness and resilience.
Pastoral experience. John Paul II’s papacy was previewed by his work as archbishop of Cracow and his successful ministry there. That model makes sense for future popes, who must have demonstrated evangelically effective pastoral leadership and a capacity to meet the challenges of aggressive secularism, which did not end when the Berlin Wall came down.
Good judgment in people. A holy, brilliant, humanly decent pope will find his ministry impeded if he does not have shrewd judgment in choosing men for high Church office, both as local bishops and as leaders in the Church’s central administrative machinery in Rome.
Openness and curiosity. One of the keys to the success of John Paul II’s papacy was his openness to a range of inputs from outside conventional ecclesiastical channels. A twenty-first-century pope must look to a wide range of information to inform his own evangelical ministry.
Courage. A timid man who sees dilemmas but not ways to address them is ill-qualified for the papacy. So is a man easily rattled by failure. Doing what is hard and absorbing the criticism for doing it is part of the essential responsibility of the pope.
Languages. In a multilingual Church, a multilingual pope is helpful.
Deborah,
You said: Weigel writes over at First Things…
All of the traits in George Weigel’s list obviously are desirable in a future pope, but there is one element that is absolutely essential. The pope must be a visionary leader. This means that he absolutely must posess the scriptural vision of the church and her mission, explained by the Second Vatican Council, and be able to convey it to those around him and to the whole church.
Norm.
Norm, that’s an interesting thought. Could you elucidate a little? Thanks.
Tim,
During one of my courses in theology a couple decades ago, the professor — a delightful Franciscan — told of staying for several days at a friary where the friars were preparing to remodel their chapel. There was a general consensus that the clutter of scenes that had been painted on the walls of the chapel decades earlier needed to go, but a few older friars expressed concern that some of the scenes might actually be significant art that should not be destroyed. To allay their concerns, the guardian (superior) decided to consult a friend of the community who was a curator at a nearby art museum. After fairly thorough scrutiny of the chapel, the curator assured the friars that there was nothing whatsoever in the chapel that was of sufficient artistic significance to warrant preservation. The guardian then told the curator that they had some other pieces of art in the friary, and they would like his opinion as to whether any of them were particularly noteworthy and thus should be on public display. Inspecting the pieces, the curator found four of particular significance — all four of which were in the attic where, in true Catholic fashion, they had been put away for safe keeping.
Playing on this image, the professor then explained that the bishops at the Second Vatican Council went up into the church’s attic and brought down four treasures to restore them to their proper place in the life of the church. He went on to say that these four treasures are (1) the significance of baptism, (2) the Word of God, (3) Holy Thursday (that is, the Last Supper) in relation to the eucharist, and (4) the church’s mission of evangelism in the world — elements that were “concealed” in some sense, or at least not readily apparent, in the Tridentine form of the liturgy and indeed more broadly in the church at the time of the Second Vatican Council.
In many dioceses and parishes, the authentic reforms of the Second Vatican Council — and here, I do NOT mean the drivel wrongly attributed to “the spirit of Vatican II” that appeared in many places — really have not yet taken root. We need a pope who posesses the council’s vision and can communicate it effectively, providing the necessary spark to continue the process of implementation of council’s authentic reforms so that the renewal envisioned by the council can come to fruition.
Norm.
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I wonder if it is even possible for Weigel to write an article, about anything at all, without mentioning John Paul II.
PS: Deborah, the OCSP governing council has been established:
http://www.usordinariate.org/governing_council.html
Norm, I was around before Vatican II. I could write a book about how things were before and after. A lot of negative things blamed on Vatican II were really due to counterculture and social revolution changes in secular society, not to the Church. For example, civil unrest, protest marching, the fall or relaxation of some social taboos especially relating to racism and sexism came out of the 60′s (probably starting earlier) as a phenomenon of society in general. The feminist movement, the Pill, hippie lifestyles and “free love”, Woodstock, acceptance of sexually explicit movies and TV, and the denigration of traditional moral values and respect for authority all started back then. None of these things had anything to do with Vatican II, which unfortunately happened at the same time. Too often, what Vatican II really said was ignored or “interpreted” by the media and/or academia and/or errant clerical and religious institutes in light of what was going on in the secular world.
Tim,
You said: I was around before Vatican II.
As was I.
You said: I could write a book about how things were before and after. A lot of negative things blamed on Vatican II were really due to counterculture and social revolution changes in secular society, not to the Church. For example, civil unrest, protest marching, the fall or relaxation of some social taboos especially relating to racism and sexism came out of the 60′s (probably starting earlier) as a phenomenon of society in general. The feminist movement, the Pill, hippie lifestyles and “free love”, Woodstock, acceptance of sexually explicit movies and TV, and the denigration of traditional moral values and respect for authority all started back then. None of these things had anything to do with Vatican II, which unfortunately happened at the same time.
I concur completely. It’s important to note that the anti-establishment movement was directed at ecclesiastical structures and authorities, including the magisterium of the Catholic Church, in addition to secular governments and organizations.
What many people do NOT realize, though it actually is well documented, is that much of this movement was instigated, fueled, and coordinated by the KGB through the Workers’ Progress Party and various other organizations that it had formed in western culture. The actual plan was to destabilize the countries of western Europe and North America, in the hope that the destabilization would either create popular support to elect a communist regime or weaken the societies sufficiently to permit takeover by military invasion. Fortunately, those efforts failed.
Significantly, though, the Second Vatican Council actually read the tea leaves quite well in this regard and addressed many of the issues before they gained widespread notice.
You said: Too often, what Vatican II really said was ignored or “interpreted” by the media and/or academia and/or errant clerical and religious institutes in light of what was going on in the secular world.
Again, I concur completely. Indeed, that was precisely the point of my earlier comments.
Norm.