AUSTRALIA
The Australian
From:The Australian
March 03, 2013
WANTED: Bishop of Rome, Shepherd of the Flock, Vatican City Head of State, CEO, CFO and COO – fluency in multiple languages preferable. Few selection panels could have a task as demanding as that facing the papal conclave. Whoever the cardinals elect to succeed Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, one thing is certain: those expecting doctrinal change will be disappointed.
Adherence to doctrine and tradition has been the institution’s strength over 2000 years and will remain so. Western liberals who want an end to an all-male clergy and the church’s resolute opposition to abortion should remind themselves that the word “catholic” means universal; the church is far bigger than the West. Popularity is no measure of the validity of revealed truth or doctrine, but those in the church’s emerging strongholds in the developing world are generally comfortable, anyway, with its centuries-old teachings.
Nonetheless, the 266th pontiff must embrace administrative reform and good governance if the church is to maintain credibility in the public square. Brisbane’s Archbishop Mark Coleridge, who worked for Pope John Paul II and in the Vatican Secretariat of State, showed sound insight when he suggested that the 115 electors seek out a pastor and evangelist with a proven track record of strong and good governance and mud on his boots rather than an academic or a curialist (Vatican speak for bureaucrat). Among the favourites, Italian cardinal Angelo Scola, who has run the dioceses of Milan and Venice, fits the bill. Among the dark horses, so does George Pell, though he won’t thank us for saying so.
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