Pray for him and for the Church – come Holy Spirit

The death of Pope Francis in the Octave of Easter while the Church was celebrating Christ’s victory over sin and death, touched many people – even people who find themselves far from the Church.
Francis’ final poignant social media post, just hours before breathing his last, that “we are made for life, not death” will pique those who want to ask the deeper questions about who we are, why we are here and where we are going.
Today’s post-Christian secular western world is powered by capitalism on steroids. We are told that our goal in life is to consume, spend and enjoy ourselves rather than thinking about anything more deeply or taking life too seriously.
Yet even a glance at the world we have created in the west tells a sad tale of loneliness, depression, decreased mental wellness and more and more people who say they don’t feel like they quite fit in.
In many poorer parts of the world, Church leaders look at the prosperity of the west and long to see their own people lifted out of poverty. But they also see that the culture of unreflecting that often accompanies economic growth takes a heavy toll on people.
Just eight times in the last 100 years members of the Sacred College of Cardinals have gathered to elect a Successor to St Peter, the man who will become Supreme Pastor of the Universal Church and the Servant of the Servants of God.
The room in which the new Pope vests to give his traditional blessing is known as the room of tears as many new Popes weep at the enormity of their task. And yet they know, even when it can seem that the Lord is asleep, God does not abandon his people.
The papacy stands as a sign of continuity in a world that is ever-changing. And the papacy must also adapt itself to that changing world. Just over a hundred years when the 53 cardinal electors met in the Sistine Chapel in 1922 to elect Pope Pius XI, there were around 283 million Catholics in the world. Today, there are more than 1.4 billion – and the Pope must be able to speak to all of them.
The Church is not built on the rock of Peter’s faith, but on Peter himself despite his faults and failings.
If one raises one’s eyes as one leaves St Peter’s Basilica in Rome by the central doors, one is struck by an image from the Gospel of Peter walking on water. Even through the basilica is dedicated to honouring St Peter and stands as a reminder of the power of his successors, there is also this reminder that Peter is dependent on Christ and that the promise of non praevalebunt is not the same as an assurance that all will be well at all times for the Church.
The mosaic was initially commissioned when the Popes had fled Rome for Avignon, due to their inability to control the city. Our faith always needs to be marked with a realistic humility, along with the serene reassurance that if we genuinely place ourselves in Christ’s hands (rather than relying on our own notions and self-confidence), then all will be well.
And, in contrast to the other 11 disciples, at least Peter has the confidence to step out onto the lake, even though he was running the risk of being in over his head, the others prefer to remain in the boat.
The next Pope must be a man of unshakable faith who will not be content to remain in the boat but will take Christ at his word and step into the unknown.
As The Irish Catholic went to print this week, the members of the College of Cardinals were preparing to enter the Sistine Chapel and swear before Almighty God in the sight of that majestic-yet-sobering fresco of The Last Judgement that they would choose the man the Church needs. By the time you read this editorial, we may indeed have a new Pope.
Whoever he is, the challenges remain the same: he must be a deeply spiritual man as comfortable in this world as he is in pointing to the world that is to come. The Church is not an ethical framework, it is not an NGO, it is not a self-help committee, it has a divine mission from God himself to make the Gospel known and invite the women and men of every generation into relationship with God.
You can’t please everyone as Pope. St John Paul II didn’t, Benedict XVI certainly didn’t, and Pope Francis didn’t either. The new Pope must be a man who can speak to a world marked by war, famine, injustice, alienation and isolation about the Carpenter of Nazareth whose life, death and resurrection has transformed human history in every generation and can so do again. It’s not so much a case of liberal or conservative, progressive of orthodox – but of being a credible witness to God in the modern world.
In 1979, the great St John Paul II became the first Successor of St Peter to set foot on Irish soil. His clear Slavic voice as he stood at the ancient monastic site of Clonmacnois resonates today as it did then: “Never forget the wonderful boast and commitment made by St Columban to Pope Boniface IV in Rome: ‘We Irish are disciples of Saints Peter and Paul; we hold unbroken that Catholic Faith which we first received from you’”.
As we greet the new Pope, let us pray for him and for the Church – Come Holy Spirit.