UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
by Michael Sean Winters | Feb. 11, 2013 Distinctly Catholic
Last night, of course, I anticipated writing an update about the U.S. bishops’ response to the HHS mandate revisions. And, in search of information about Cardinal Consalvi, the greatest Secretary of State in the history of the Holy See, I was reminded about the circumstances of the election of Pope Pius VII. His predecessor, Pius VI, had died in August 1799, a prisoner of Napoleon. The City of Rome had been proclaimed a Republic, forcing the conclave to meet in Venice under the protection of the Austrian emperor. The conclave began its deliberation on November 30, 1799 and, given the high stakes, political and ecclesiastical, the cardinals deadlocked. It was not until March 14 that Chiaramonti was elected the new Pope.
The news of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation may lead the Church to the most interesting conclave since that conclave of 1799-1800. There will not be the political pressures from the crowned heads of Europe as existed then – after the 1903 conclave that elected Pope Pius X, the right of certain monarchs to veto a candidate was brought to an end. But, the ecclesiastical situation is sure to be just as contentious as many prior conclaves and, given the virtually unprecedented quality of Pope Benedict’s decision to resign, those tensions will include some new dynamics.
What are the key dynamics, both immediate and long-term? The most obvious is that the decision to resign may be the most modernizing decision Pope Benedict has taken. (Quick question: Who is the person most upset with the decision? Queen Elizabeth II. You can bet that she took a call from Prince Charles this morning asking if she was watching the tele!) In a single moment, the Pope has removed some of the aura of the papacy, the idea that it was a vocation rather than a ministry, something that cannot be abandoned without somehow affronting the Holy Spirit. Today, the Pope indicated that the Petrine ministry is a ministry, a very specific ministry to be sure, but more of a job than a vow.
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