A Pope Resigns, VIII (Preparing to Vote)

How do you prepare to vote for the next pope?

There are 50 Cardinals now in Rome who have some definite ideas about that, because they did vote in the 2005 conclave which made Joseph Ratzinger the 265th bishop of Rome.   In an interview with The New York Times just after Pope Benedict's announcement of his resignation, one of those 2005 electors, Francis Cardinal George of Chicago said, "People are reluctant to speak about themselves.  So you go to a friend and say, Can you tell me about cardinal so-and-so?  The questions are usually about the qualities you want to see in a pope.  Is he a man of prayer, is he deeply rooted in the apostolic faith, can he govern, is he deeply concerned about the poor?  It matters far less where he happens to be living or where he's from."

That's an ok start.

Certainly you pray.  You ask for prayers of your diocese, your brothers in the episcopate, and of the whole church.  

And you ask yourself lots of questions.

Two sets of questions are floating among all the discussions, formally in the General Congregations now happening in the daytime, and informally among the Cardinals at the coffee bars and in the restaurants after hours.

The first can be posed negatively (What is wrong with the church today and how might the next pope address these needs?) or positively (Where do I think the next pope should take the church?).  In other words, you need a vision of the church.  Before you can move to the second set of questions, regarding the qualities of leadership, you have to have in your mind a coherent perspective on what the church can, and should with the right pope, look like.  

For example, if you are of the opinion that the Roman Curia is (are?) nothing short of the Augean stables, and incompetent to boot, and that until the interior administration of the Roman Catholic Church is cleaned out and set right you can't really do evangelization, you have one vision of the church.  If, however, you are of the opinion that the most pressing need for the church is another charismatic evangelist to roam the world with his message to inspire and inflame,  you have a different vision of the church.   

Which moves to the second set of questions.  What are the skill-sets, the qualities, the attitudes you want in the next pope?  Here you drill down into several categories:

• Does he know how to speak Italian?  English?  Does he know one or two more of the major European languages?  Any other languages?
• Is he younger that Papa Ratzinger at his election (78) and older than Papa Wojtyla (58) at his election?  Does he appear to have the health, energy and stamina for the demanding job?  What is his work ethic?
• Is he a genuine man of prayer?
• Is he smart enough for the job?  Does he understand the major intellectual currents in the church and in the world?
• Is is clean?  (Which is to say, what has he done and said about the clerical sexual abuse scandal of the past two decades?  Is he tainted by complicity in corruption or abuse of political power?)  Are there any personal skeletons in his closet?
• Would he command the respect of the Roman Curia?  the College of Cardinals? the worldwide episcopate?  the leaders of nations?  the judgment of history?
• Does he have enough administrative skill to know how to govern?
• Does he have the skills of a teacher and preacher to proclaim the Word of God for today and hold fast to the deposit of faith?
• Does he, as Cardinal George mentioned, truly care for the poor and can apply the social teachings of the past century to a new century?
• Is he willing to deal with the world's media?  
• How would he react to crisis?
• What are his perspectives and attitudes in regard to ecumenism?  the Jewish faith?  Islam?  other world religions?  secularism and atheism?
• Does he have enough pastoral experience (here defined as having been an actual, hands-on diocesan bishop)?  Does he have any experience of having studied or worked in Rome? 

People who are thinking of purchasing an automobile can easily go online to "build their dream car."  Cardinals today in Rome are building their dream pope--and then testing the ideal against the reality of 115 fallible, limited, talented men.