The Catholic Church is at an important cross-roads right now. Over the next several days, the Cardinals at the Vatican will not only be selecting a new pope, they'll be selecting a new direction for the Church. Yes, it indeed is going to be a crucial time for the Catholic Church, and here's why.
It isn't exactly shocking news to hear that many Catholics feel disconnected with the Church. This has been a growing problem for some time now. According to a Washington Post - ABC News Poll, a majority of American Catholics feel disconnected with the Church, and feel out of touch with the Church's views and positions. Majority of U.S Catholics Favor Change
This growing disconnect, at least for Americans is in part because of the Church's views on birth control and contraception. For as far as one can trace, the Church has been against contraception. The Catholic Church even rejected the White House proposal on birth control in the piece of legislation commonly known as "Obamacare". Higher-ups from the Church said that the White House proposal did not do enough to offer "safeguards" for religious hospitals and institutions.
Nearly 6 in 10 Catholics would characterize the Church as not in synch with their attitudes and lifestyles, even though a majority of Catholics (in the same poll) praised the performance of out-going Pope Benedict. Catholics are at a cross-roads with the Church, disappointed in the overall institution, but not with its top official. From the last Conclave (2005) until now however, a growing number of Catholics want change with the Church, and want the Church to leave its traditional policies.
In that same Washington Post - ABC News Poll (conducted between March 7-10 of 1,001 adults), 55 percent of Catholics oppose the ban on married priests. In general, Catholics want to see more transparency within the Church, and specifically within the Vatican.
This transparency also stretches to the child abuse scandal that has plagued the Church for quite some time. About 8 in 10 Americans disapprove of the Church's actions, with a 78 percent disapproval. Differing from the ABC News Poll, a NY Times/CBS News poll found that 7 in 10 U.S Catholics disapprove of Pope Benedict's and the Vatican's response to the scandal. Catholics want to see those Priests accused with abuse to be rightfully disciplined.
In general, there is a lot of secrecy within the Vatican. This includes a Vatican banking scandal, where a report has just been released. The Vatican Bank has been described as the "most secretive bank in the world" (Forbes, Jun.26,2012).
So now, the main question, who will have to lead the Catholic Church through these troublesome times, in trying to guide the Church back into a respective light? It will certainly be a rough going for the new pope. Now, in taking a step back, I don't want you to think I'm bashing the Catholic Church. Do they have their own problems? Yes. Do they need to respond and answer for those problems? Absolutely. However, not only does the Catholic Church need to return to a light of relevancy, but I think Catholics and the World in general need it as well. I'll describe this later in my conclusion.
The Cardinals
Heading into this Conclave, there isn't any heavy favorite. Instead, there is a scattered list of 10 or so likely candidates, stretching from Italy, Africa, Latin America, and North America. I'll now provide a list of about 9-10 candidates (some candidates pulled from NBC News.)
Cardinal Angelo Scola (71yrs old): He was appointed Archbishop of Milan by Pope Benedict. Scola's writings have been described as condemnations on not only homosexuality and abortion, but also genetic engineering, birth control and feminism. His logic is seen as connecting feminism to homosexuality. Along with age, this strict conservative view would seem as a drawback.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet (68yrs old): Ouellet is a Canadian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. The Cardinal is known for his missionary work in South America, as he has been named President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. He had previously been the Archbishop of Quebec and primate of Canada. He has been described as "friendly, humble and flexible, not incapable of listening to others".
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri (69yrs old): He is an Argentine Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the current Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in the Roman Curia. He has been involved with Jewish-Christian relations, as he was present at Pope Benedict's trip to the Yad Vashem.
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi (70yrs old): He is an Italian Cardinal who currently serves the Roman Curia as President of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Ravasi stated on the theory of evolution that "I want to affirm, as an 'a priori', the compatibility of the theory of evolution with the message of the Bible and the Church's theology". Ravasi also noted that the Church has not condemned the work of Charles Darwin.
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco (70yrs old): He is an Italian Cardinal who currently serves as Archbishop of Genoa and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference. He is seen as having conservative views regarding abortion and same sex marriages, saying "Why say no to incest?" in his condemnation of same sex marriage.
Cardinal Peter Turkson (64yrs old): He is a Ghanaian Cardinal and President of the Pontifical Council for Justice & Peace. He has also served as Archbishop of Cape Coast. Turkson has been called "the lone Scripture scholar in the Pope's 'Senate' ". Turkson stood by Pope Benedict's view of condoms on the HIV/AIDS crisis, but doesn't rule out condoms in all situations. Turkson has also called for the reform of the International financial system. He has called for a distinction between human rights and moral issues.
Cardinal Odilo Scherer (63yrs old): He is a Brazilian Cardinal who currently serves as Archbishop of Sao Paulo. He is considered to be theologically moderate. He uses modern social media routinely. He has been quoted as saying "Priests aren't showmen…The Mass is not to be transformed into a show".
Cardinal Timothy Dolan (63yrs old): He is an American Cardinal who is the current Archbishop of New York. Dolan also serves as the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is known for his conservative values and charismatic media personality. Dolan had been assigned to investigate Priests accused of sexual misconduct in St. Louis in 2002. He has also visited the World Trade Center site, saying "We will never stop crying. But it's also about September 12th and the renewal, the rebuilding, hope, solidarity and compassion that symbolized this great community and still does".
Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley (68yrs old): He is an American Cardinal, currently serving as Archbishop of Boston. He is a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Regarding abortion rights, he has said that, unless excommunicated by the Church, he would not deny communion to Catholic politicians who support such rights. O'Malley instituted one of the first comprehensive sexual abuse policies in the Catholic Church.
So what does the Church need to do?
In my view, the perfect selection for Pope would be Cardinals Ouellet, Ravasi, Scherer, Dolan or O'Malley. They each show the ability to be able to modernize the Church.
It certainly won't be easy for the Catholic Church to change. It will happen gradually over the next few years. It certainly won't be drastic change. No one is expecting the Church to suddenly embrace same-sex marriage, and really, no one is asking them to do that right now. What the Church does need to do however is to become more transparent. It will be important for the bureaucracy of the Vatican to open up and not be so secretive. This openness includes the sex-abuse scandal, with the rumors of pay-offs and cover-ups. As noted with the candidates, they have worked with the Church to be more open on this issue, Cardinal O'Malley in particular.
The Church does have to wake up on certain issues, such as birth control and contraception. One can see where the Church is coming from on contraception and the HIV/AIDS crisis, that it might become a kind of safeguard, however to say that they it won't help the crisis is still irresponsible on the Church's behalf. The Church also must stop their contradictory views in the connection with abortion and birth control. Being that the Church is against abortion, it would seem to make sense that they would support some methods of birth control. Usage of birth control will cut down on unwanted pregnancies.
It isn't about celebrity, its about service. The new Pope has to become a leader for the Church and for Catholics all over the world. They need to be accessible to the people, and to not "close the doors off". That's what the Church desperately needs to do. As I stated, they don't need to suddenly embrace same-sex marriage, but to be more open, more accepting of different people and different cultures. This includes laying off condemnations comparing the acceptance of homosexuality to incest, making claims that feminism is leading to homosexuality. Such claims are just ludicrous, and cause people to become isolated from the Church.
This isn't just Rome's Pope, or Italy's Pope, this is the World's Pope. The Church has to come to realize that. The Pope isn't just a symbol for all Catholics, but for the World. This being true, the Church has to be open to all forms of Christianity, and religions in general, whether it be Judaism, Islam, Hindu or Buddhism. All of these seek out a common bond of a spiritual relationship. The new Pope will have to be a reformer. The new Pope should focus teachings on helping the poor, on leading the case on climate change, for example.
The Pope needs to be somebody that the World can look upon for words of value, faith, wisdom and virtue, not of hate and condemnation. During tough or troubling times, we should be able to look towards the Pope for guidance.
Today's society has grown increasingly cynical regarding the Church and religion in general. This is the Catholic Church's chance to show those people that they are willing to change, they are willing to modernize the Church. Ultimately, the Church will have no other choice but to connect to today's Catholics. If not, the Catholic Church (as an organization), will continue to fall into obscurity.
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