Posted on 04/26/2002 5:21:50 PM PDT by Dallas
WASHINGTON, April 26 (UPI) -- What would Cardinal Bernard Law do with his life if he was forced to resign as archbishop of Boston? Well, for one thing, he could become the next pope.
Unlikely? Yes -- particularly since he has come under fire in the wave of sex scandals that currently bedevils the American Catholic Church. Impossible? Hardly. Stranger things have happened in papal elections.
The meeting of the 12 U.S. cardinals with Pope John Paul II apparently failed to resolve the question of Cardinal Law's future. Forced to admit publicly that he had repeatedly reassigned from parish to parish at least one priest he knew was a child molester, he is under pressure to resign.
In Rome, the American cardinals sidestepped the issue. Bishop Wilton Gregory, the chairman of the American Conference of Catholic Bishops told a press conference Wednesday the matter of Cardinal Law's resignation was "up to the pope and the cardinal himself."
But even if Cardinal Law quits as Archbishop of Boston, he will still remain a cardinal and therefore eligible to vote in the conclave that elects the next pontiff of the Roman Catholic church.
A few years back Bernard Law was on many Vatican experts' list of cardinals who were "papabile," that is, having the qualities to be considered a serious candidate for the papacy. There seemed a reasonable chance that he would be elected the first American pope. A cardinal since 1985, the Harvard-educated prelate was highly regarded in Rome as an effective archbishop in a major U.S. Catholic archdiocese.
In the wake of his handling of the child abuse cases in his archdiocese, that likelihood is, of course, remote.
But the centuries-old procedure for electing a pope is as much a political process as voting for a new ward captain in Chicago, and the process is famous for stunning upsets and unexpected choices.
Following the death of the pope, all the cardinals under the age of 80 are locked into a section of the Vatican and not allowed to leave until they pick a successor by secret ballot. Voting takes place in the Sistine Chapel beneath Michelangelo's magnificent frescoes until one them receives two-thirds plus one votes.
Before each round of voting the cardinals pray to the Holy Ghost to help them make the right choice. But little is left to divine intervention. The cardinals campaign actively for the man of their choice. The relative merits of each candidate are discussed in smoke-filled rooms, and the leading "papabili" are discreetly questioned about how each would approach the major problems facing the church.
Cardinals are the personal creations of the pope, and their main role is to assist the pontiff in running the church's affairs. A cardinal heads each of the Vatican departments, or decasteries, and also many of the leading archdioceses throughout the world. Because cardinals are known as the princes of the church, a king is supposed to address a cardinal in correspondence as "brother."
Given Pope John Paul's failing health, the next conclave could be held soon. As of now, 137 cardinals will participate in the conclave including, of course, Cardinal Law. He is no longer talked of as "papabile" -- but there are precedents enough for upsets and surprise choices.
In 1958, the voters, seeking an "interim pope" to occupy the office until the favorite, Archbishop Giovanni Battista Montini of Milan, was made a cardinal elected the relatively unknown 81-year-old Patriarch of Venice, Angelo Roncalli.
The new pope took the name of Pope John XXIII. As expected, his was a short pontificate, but against all expectations he launched the Vatican Council and revolutionized the church.
In 1978, the conclave was deadlocked over two candidates and settled on a compromise choice -- another Patriarch of Venice, Albino Luciani, who was unknown outside Italy.
When Luciani (Pope John Paul I) died suddenly after less than a month in office, the cardinals stunned the world by choosing the first non-Italian pope in over three centuries -- Cardinal Karol Woytyla of Krakow, Poland.
As the American cardinals returned home Friday there were reports that Cardinal Law would be "reassigned" to the Vatican, which is taken to mean a desk job in Rome far removed from the scene of his errors of judgement.
And with a field of potential successors to John Paul that has no front-runners, who knows what can happen?
Copyright © 2002 United Press International
Okay, it could be worse..Bill Clinton could be named the next Pope. That would truly be something to get sick over!
I won't. But as an american dark horse for the next pope, watch for Archbishop Meyers from the Archdiocese of Newark.
Remember, you heard it here, first, on Free Republic.
Has become? Has become?
This problem didn't spring up overnight. And not over the last few years.
This is and has been the RCC's dirty little secret for a great many years indeed.
I hesitate to bump this thread given its absurdity, but I wanted to second your remarks.
Maybe Law could become Pope Pedophilias I.
Ycch.
I dunno. I don't think the American Cardinals have exactly covered themselves in glory - else the Catholic Church in the US wouldn't be in the state it is in now.
Who is Archbishop Meyers (as in what has he done/said/taught) and why do you think he is a dark horse?
Yeah, the Pope of Greenwich Village.
Don't hold your breath.
Discernment is something that escapes you, obviously.
That said, Law would be a poor choice for elector. He's gone on record as having knowingly facilitated the continuing depredations of a child-molesting priest. Would his judgment be any better in the selection of a new pope?
You're right, they need prayers.
I pray that Law and the other clergy who participated in this cover-up are indicted, convicted and sentenced to prison.
I thought the "papabile" was the Pope's car.
Cardinal Arinze is certainly a dark horse.
That sounds exclusively numinous. The Pope, as Vatican I infallibly taught "For the Holy Spirit was not promised to the sucesors of Peter, that by His revelation they might make known new doctrine, but that by His assistance they might inviobaly keep and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith delivered through the Apostles."
I don't know about you, but I don't desire a Pope whose putative afflatus will lead us down wildly unpredictable paths.
I, for one, have had about enough change in my 53 years of life
LOL I don't know if you intended this but this struck me as funny. In speaking about the Pope, you use an expression that Robert Blake used to use all the time while on Johnny Carson.
I can see him sitting there, fingering his unlit cigarette, issuing some statement then pointing to Johnny and saying, "And you can take dat to da bank..."
Thanks for the laugh - intended or not. I needed one...
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