When two or three of you are gathered in my name, I will be there.
The Cardinal Electors invoke the Holy Spirit to be their guide. While the Holy Spirit doesn’t actively pick the next Pope, as each Elector is free to make their own choice, it does make sense God’s guiding hand is there.
While I respect the many posts you have made, and the intellectual rigor you apply to them, allow me to highlight the following from the CCC:
100 The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him.
While we are in agreement about the accuracy of your statement, allow me to also take this opportunity to remind fellow Catholics of the following (again from the CCC):
85 “The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.”47 This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.
86 “Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith.”48
87 Mindful of Christ’s words to his apostles: “He who hears you, hears me”,49 the faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.
With all of the bashing of Pope Francis, I think it is important to remember he is the Pope. God is allowing it. It is our job to believe God will protect the Church, its dogmata, and to pray for all of those who serve Him, regardless of their level of impeccability.
If the Pope and his brother bishops are weak, then we should, in charity, pray more vigorously. If our brother strays, do we give up? No. So, if one believes the Pope is somehow deficient in one thing or the other, pray, pray without ceasing for him! He is only a man, and needs our prayerful assistance.
I don’t have any doubt that the Holy Spirit is involved. What I object to is the superstitious belief that the Pope is always the “best man for the job,” or “God’s choice.”
Specifically: the notion that criticism of the Pope’s words and actions is practically blasphemy BECAUSE “the Holy Spirit chooses the Pope.”
There is NO basis for this belief in the Church’s teaching.
The Pope’s authority flows from his being the Bishop of Rome, which makes him the Successor of Peter, not any supposed intervention of God in the process by which he becomes Pope.