Since I am the Badger Catholic, it is my duty to provide fuel to the fire particualry when it comes to speculation on Wisconsin born papal appointments. First, we know that if any American were being considered, the only one on that list is Cardinal Burke. Second, it is very unlikely to see an American elected pope.... but.....
A couple years ago National Review picked up on an iiiiiinteresting article from Inside the Vatican.
One of the best-connected observers of Vatican politics, and of Roman Catholic matters generally, is Robert Moynihan, editor of the visually stunning Inside the Vatican magazine. In a recent e-mail dispatch, Dr. Moynihan suggests — based on a conversation with one of his trusted sources — that one of the most enduring elements of Vatican Conventional Wisdom may be wrong. For years, it has been said that there cannot be an American Pope, for various reasons having to do with culture and geopolitics. Moynihan hints this may be changing:continue at National Review
My day could not end without a conversation with an old friend, a monsignor, who is, in a manner of speaking, a “Catherine of Siena” in our time.
I have spoken with him many times over the years.
I will call him “Father Jeremiah.”
He has white hair, clear eyes, and he is a product of the preconciliar Church.
He knows the Curia well, though in recent years, he has had less intimate contact with its workings.
Still, through his circle of friends, he has access to information about upcoming documents and decisions which often proves to be quite precise. . . .
Father Jeremiah spoke to me about a particular situation in the United States, and its relation to the future of the universal Church.
“Europe is in crisis, demographically and morally,” he said to me. “For this and other reasons, it may be time, in the not-too-distant future, for an American Pope. A possible candidate will have to have had a strong formation, perhaps in one of the traditional religious orders. . . .”
Then he looked at me intently. “It may be time,” he said, “for a cappucino.”
That there are insider rumblings on this from within Vatican circles, suggesting a change in perspective, is therefore quite interesting. Based on my own observation of Dolan (in the pulpit, on TV, and in his writings), he is both a friendly and charming man and a strong evangelizer. I could see him being quite credible as Pope. But the particular sort of American that Dr. Moynihan’s source appears to be looking for would be someone more aggressively and explicitly conservative on matters of church discipline — and that, to me, suggests Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, the archconservative former archbishop of St. Louis who is now one of the most powerful figures in the Vatican.
I have got to stop reading this stuff. Can you imagine?
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10 comments:
Agreed...Stop reading, stop writing... Just Pray!!!
The more it gets speculated (I fear) the less chance it will/could happen...
Interesting quote:
"The Cardinal that enters the conclave the favorite, usually exits a Cardinal."
Don't get me wrong, I am a big Burke fan, that said if I were a Cardinal in the conclave I would not vote for him on the first ballot. Burke would be great heading up the CDF, also he is great in his current spot, I am not sure he would be a great pontiff. I would love to see him exercising a great ammount of "behind the scenes" power in the curia but he may not be Pope material.
For whatever my two cents may be worth if I was a Cardinal elector on the first ballot there are 2 different guys I'd be considering, this would be my thought process...
I would be thinking maybe time is right for a Francophone Pope (though we may not yet notice it at the the typical parish, the situation with the Bishops in the English speaking world, esp. the USA and increasingly Great Britain has shifted in the past decade or two from "critical" to "stable" and the inertia should keep things on the right track.) On the other hand the French speaking world (France, Belgium, Canada, assorted Islands and some places in Africa) really needs help. We see Quebec's Cardinal Ouellet get mentioned a lot, he would be solid but I'd be even more happy to see a surprise pick, Cardinal Philippe Xavier Christian Ignace Marie Barbarin. He is the Archbishop of Lyon, the oldest see in France (the "Eldest Daughter" of the Church)and "Primate of the Gauls." I can't think of a better place to look for a man to begin the re-evangelization of the French speaking world. He is young (born 1950) and actually was born in French Morocco (how about that for the "African Pope" the media likes to hype?) Also did work in Madagascar so he does have a good sense of church not just in Europe but in the "global south." He worked in parishes for 21 years. He speaks speaks Latin, Italian, English, Spanish, German, and Malagasy. Maybe of most interest to readers of this blog, in his archdiocesan seminary the seminarians learn both the Ordinary and Extraordinary forms of the Mass, it would be nice to see that become a world-wide Catholic norm. OR...
Another fascinating and exciting choice (but probably getting too unlikely here) would be the new Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Sviatoslav Shevchuk. Very young (born 1970) grew up in the Soviet Union (which would be a plus giving him real life insight into the darker side of the world) was a pastor for immigrants in Argentina. He speaks Ukrainian Spanish, Russian, English, Italian, Greek, Latin and Old Slavonic. A young guy like himself could devote decades to the massive project of healing the East-West schism of 1054 (heck he'd be around for the 1000 year anniversary of that in 2054 probably!) Also vocations are thriving under him (the average age of his priests is 35, that shows real vibrancy!) That said someone that young, and from outside of the Latin Rite is a long shot.
All that said I am just a layman, and if I were a betting man, I'd bet on Scola and a quiet Italian papacy focused mostly on reforming the curia and when the next conclave comes around the calls for a non-European Pope will be so great that it will probably happen.
It could happen. I had a dream when I was little... I've been very prophetic lately. ;)
What?
Locutions and all!!
You need a day time TV show.
My wife wants to know how Downton Abbey is going to turn out.
As I have pointed out on my own blog, I think Burke would be ideal as the next Pope.
He is at the top of my short list, just like Ratzinger was 8 years ago. & we know how that election turned out. I'll leave it at that.
Im glad to see someone else out there is watching the Major ArchBishop of Ukraine ... if the West and East are ever to heal it will be be greatly attributed to him
one of the traditional religious orders. . . .” and “It may be time,” he said, “for a cappucino.” It would seem he was referencing Cardinal O'Malley of Boston.
I don't know...I'm putting it in Our Lady's hands, as True Spouse of the Holy Ghost and Mother of the Church.
rjh
I love having this conversation. Obviously it's tremendously important for all of us to fast and pray for the Spirit's work in the process, but one of the fun things about being Catholic is to be able to have this conversation at all :-)
I really also think that if an American is going to be elected that it will be Cardinal Burke. I don't think it will happen in general, but I do think he's the top American candidate.
I'm a little suprised no one is talking to much about Cardinal Ranjith from Sri Lanka. He's younger, from a area where the Church and vocations are booming and would signal a recognition of the Church in the developing world, is very well connected in Rome, and speaks a ton of languages. I've seen his name on some long-shot lists, but even there I've started to see it pop up less and less. He remains my "sleeper pick".
Funny you mention Ranjith, I was just thinking about him this weekend as a possibility. He is excellent, but I almost wonder if he's too good and therefore irreplaceable for his region of the world. In other words, if he stays where he's at, he can continue to grow the Church.
I think that's probably one of the tough decisions the Cardinals will have to face: how will removing a particular person from their current position affect the wider Church?
While I don't think he ever had near the chance to become pope that people are claiming, Cardinal Dolan is in this exact situation. Whether or not he'd be a good pope, I and many people think he'd serve the Universal Church much more effectively as the Cardinal Archbishop of New York and as the USCCB President and whatever role he has in the conference when his term ends.
Nonetheless, in specific response to Ranjith's place, I wonder how much influence he has had in his local area? He was educated in Rome and he was involved in the diplomatic offices and/or Curia for over 10 years before returning to Sri Lanka. Admittedly, he is well-connected as a local and pastoral person there even specifically mentioning the experience as developing a "love of the liturgy and a love of the poor" (sounds like papal material to me!) while a priest in Sri Lanka, but I don't think he has the same strength of ties to his homeland that someone like Dolan does to the US.
We'll just have to see what the Spirit does!
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