Vatican bubbled with activities in the past seven days as Benedict XVI made final arrangements for departure as pontiff, in fulfillment of his earlier notice to quit. Skeptics, who thought the notice to resign was a fluke were taken aback as some of them watched the former pope fly to Santa Maria Mater Ecclesia Monastery – his new residence – where he is expected to spend the rest of his sacerdotal life in prayer and meditation.
Before he departed the Vatican officially, he held his usual Wednesday audience that attracted over 300,000 persons that had come from all over the world to catch a glimpse of him, probably for the last time. The event held in the St. Peter’s Square because of the large number of people in attendance. He also met some cardinals and important personalities that had assembled to see him. One of them was President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano. In-between these activities the former pontiff took out time for serious prayer. He took part in a Lenten Spiritual exercise led by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi.
Apart from being a very busy week for the ex-pope, it was also the time several alleged scandals, threatening to asphyxiate and undermine the church, chose to rear their heads (sorry for the cliché). The media have been making screaming headlines out of the alleged cases of sex, corruption and gay scandals involving priests. In fact, a top cardinal and one of those eligible to vote at the oncoming conclave had been swept away by the fearsome scandal blizzard. Cardinal Keith O’Brien – the most senior Scottish cleric – resigned on Monday.
Though he is 75 years, it is alleged that he abused four young boys training for priesthood under him in the early 80s. The pope has since accepted his resignation. However, there was no concrete proof to link him to the allegation, but he has honourably chosen not to take part in the conclave, in order not to divert attention from the election of the new pope. He is also contemplating seeking legal redress to clear his name. From what is happening, it is certain there are going to be more controversies in the months ahead.
How the whole thing pans out will be determined by how the new pope handles the report of the 3-man panel (comprising only cardinals) set up by Pope Benedict XVI to investigate the alleged cases of sex scandals directed at the clergy. It was gathered that the report contained embarrassing hard facts about the financial sleazes and sex scandals in the Vatican. How is the church going to navigate through these worrisome issues and times? This is the immediate task awaiting the new pontiff. But it is common knowledge the church is not new to scandals and, even, deliberate plots to bring it into disrepute and destruction.
The current scandals will not be an exception either. Because of the suddenness of Pope Benedict’s resignation, some people hold diverse opinions about what lies ahead. But there is a school of thought that sees the resignation as a huge blessing. Their argument is that the pope by resigning has ‘pointed us to Christ as the Supreme Pontiff’. There is some sense in it. It took courage and selflessness on the part of Pope Benedict to make such a proclamation, especially when he had the option to remain and die in office as did his predecessor.
Again, by volunteering to resign into a life of prayer for the church and the troubled world, he has further demonstrated his single-mindedness and courage. His tenure as the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (assisted then by Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone) and his fidelity in maintaining the truth and clarity of the Catholic faith have also combined to attract to him the present global recognition he enjoys.
His humanist persona was amply shown during his visit to the United States in 2008, where he exhibited a deep sense of sorrow for those reportedly abused by priests. His unparalleled pastoral care and unwavering commitment to bring succour to those physically and psychologically brutalized is remarkable. This is one thing that will play in favour of the church as it grapples with the crippling scandals rocking it. Some people fear the resignation may harm the church. But in my view, the fear is misplaced.
After all, some popes had resigned in the past without any serious negative consequence on the Church. This is so, since the church is not built on the pope, but on Christ who is its founder and benefactor. God has consistently and constantly protected the church from the machinations of the evil ones. If the Catholic Church had been founded on the wisdom of man, probably, it would have demised long ago. All churches founded by men had fizzled out a few years after their founders passed away. What I witnessed at the Westminster Cathedral, London, two weeks ago, has put a lie to that fear and reinforced the claim that the number of Catholic faithful worldwide is growing in geometric progression.
The occasion was the rite of election and call to continuing conversion of candidates. Over 1000 candidates took a significant step forward in their journey into full communion with the Catholic Church. The catechumens publicly declared their desire to be baptized and received into full communion with the Catholic Church. His Excellency, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols (Archbishop of Westminster) could not preside over the event as he was recovering from a recent surgery. But he was represented by Bishops Hopes and Arnold with several priests and deacons and faithful in attendance.
I was later told that the event was the product of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the Westminster Diocese in 2011. I had the privilege of sharing in the Holy Father’s generous and humanist disposition, having had an audience with him at the Vatican in 2009. It was a lifelong opportunity to meet this holy man face-to face. I must confess that meeting him gave my life a new meaning and increased my faith. I had the opportunity to tell him something on that occasion, which I would like to share with my readers for the first time. I told the pope not to finish his papacy without visiting Nigeria.
Though he was not forthcoming on that occasion, it was very clear that my request left him thinking. Pope John Paul II visited Nigeria in 1982. That visit helped tremendously in strengthening the presence of the church in Nigeria. The fruit of that visit is the growing number of Catholic faithful in Nigeria. His inability to visit Nigeria for the nearly eight years he was in office as pope is the only thing that makes me sad about his decision to resign. I had looked forward, with great eagerness, to the day he would visit Nigeria. But that is not to be again – at least at an official level.
However, he may choose to visit in his private capacity, if nothing more, to satisfy the anxiety of persons like me. Aware of the expectations of the world, the former pope has promised not to be directly involved in the election of his successor to ensure the liberty of the College of Cardinals to choose a person of their choice. Nevertheless, I doubt how feasible this will be, since the retiring pope will be leaving a stone-throw from the Vatican, even though in reclusion. He issued “Motu Proprio” ( Latin words meaning on one’s own initiative). The Motu Proprio (Apostolic Letter addressing changes concerning the election of the new pontiff).
The kernel of the letter is the possibility to change the date for the conclave, which constitutionally should be between 15 and 20 days after the vacant see begins. With the changes the cardinals are at liberty to postpone it to a more convenient date “in case of serious events”. Another content of the letter is that “if the number of cardinals at the conclave is not divisible by three, or a multiple of three, dividing two-thirds of the votes to elect a new pontiff becomes mathematically more complicated.” Therefore, to avoid any confusion, it indicates that “at least two-thirds of the votes of the electors present and voting is required.”
Making a choice of a new pope may not be too easy just as some people may view some of the changes simplistically, but the intervention of the Holy Spirit will provide the necessary gratia to carry out this onerous assignment. The cardinals on their part are making conscious effort to ensure that whoever emerges eventually as a successor to Benedict XVI does not come with a baggage of scandals. On their check-list is the search of a person whose presence and office will inspire faith and boost the population of the faithful, put at over 1.2 billion at the last count, all over the world.
From where will the new pope likely come? Some analysts have pointed towards Africa with a Catholic population of 186 million and South America 339 million (the largest in the world). They are entitled to their own views. Nonetheless, the emergence of a new pope is entirely the prerogative of the 115 Cardinals (that will take part in the conclave) acting under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Did forecasters not mention the like of Angelo Cardinal Scola (71) in 2005 conclave? Cardinal Scola is the Archbishop of Milan and served at one time as the Patriarch of Venice until June 2011.
Francis Cardinal Arinze (80) and Peter Cardinal Kodwo Appiah Turkson (64) are also possible Papabili (likely successors) to John Paul II in 2005? What happened in the end? Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (from Germany) emerged, contrary to these widely speculated names. Something in me tells me that the new pope will still come from Europe, if the incidents that produced the last two popes were to be considered. Several factors favour a European. First, they have the number: Out of the 125 cardinals in the Catholic Church, 67 of them come from Europe.
Again, Pope Benedict XVI has the number of Cardinals he had created during his reign to 90; out of which 67 of them are eligible to vote. He achieved this by holding two consistories last year, when it is traditional for a pope to hold at most one consistory each year. (Consistory is the ceremony at which the pope announces the appointment of new cardinals). Nearly 1/4 of eligible cardinals that will vote at the conclave to elect a new pope are Italians. Only 11 cardinals come from Africa.
The other continents are left to share the remaining slots. Second, top Vatican offices are occupied by, mainly, European cardinals. A good example is the post of Secretary of State (the second in command to the pope) held by Pope Benedict XVI’s closest confidant Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, an Italian. You also have Angelo Cardinal Sodano, Dean College of Cardinals; Marc Cardinal Quellet (68) from Canada who heads the influential Congregation of Bishops, and Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi (70) who comes from Italy and holds the post of President of the Council for Culture.
These are frontrunners in the succession battle. The only Africans who have the experience and versatility of Vatican politics are Francis Arinze (veteran of the curia and close confidant of John Paul II who appointed him Cardinal) and Peter Kodwo Turkson (prefect of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace) from Ghana. Can Arinze or Turkson become pope at this time? I don’t think so. Their colour(?) may count against them. At over 80 years, Arinze has reached and surpassed the retirement age for Curia Cardinals, which is 75 years. There are other Cardinals who could be Pope.
They come from different continents of the world, especially where the Catholic faith is still booming. Among them are Angelo Scola (an insider choice whom Benedict appointed as the Archbishop of Milan); Leonardo Sandri (69) from ethnic Italy – who held the office of Vatican Chief of staff from 2000 to 2005; Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga (70) from Honduras – a fiery critic of sleaziness and criminality in government. Others are Cardinal Timothy Dolan (Archbishop of New York, USA), Cardinal Christop Schoenborn (Archbishop of Vienna, Austria), Cardinal Anthonio Tagle (56) (Archbishop of Milan, Philippines), Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina), Cardinal Pedro Sherer (Archbishop of Sao Paulo, Brazil), and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri (70) – Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
Some Vatican experts argue that Pope Benedict XVI is favourably disposed to Cardinal Bertone as successor. They refer to the refusal of Pope Benedict XVI to accept Bertone’s retirement letter when he clocked 75 years -the mandatory age of retirement for curia Cardinals – four years ago. They also refer to the recent naming of 22 new Cardinals (many of whom were Italians and close confidants of Bertone) as a pointer. They also claim that Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bertone – who turned 78 in December last year – Camerlengo (or Chamberlain) of the Roman Catholic Church in 2007.
As Camerlengo, Bertone is expected to act as the Head of the Church in the event of a vacancy (sede vacante) existing in the Vatican, as is about to happen on February 28. We wait and see how all these play out in a few weeks from now. In my opinion, what the church needs now is a young, enterprising, knowledgeable, committed, versatile, humane, visionary, courageous and experienced person as pope.
These qualities are what are required of a modern pope in a modern world that is steeped in sin and materialism and endless controversies. The new pope should have the capacity to combine the religiosity, populism and piety of Blessed John Paul II with the courageousness, intellectualism and radicalism of Benedict XVI. Concluded
This piece was first published in Sun