Joseph F. O'Callaghan: May a New Pope Throw Open Wide the Windows of the Catholic Church

Tcpalm
February 22, 2013

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2013/feb/22/joseph-f-ocallaghan-may-a-new-pope-throw-open-of/

Pope Benedict XVI blesses faithful at the end of his visit at the Roman seminary Feb. 8.

Pope Benedict XVI wisely decided to resign the papacy Feb. 28 because he recognized that, given his advanced age and lessened physical capacity, he could not meet the challenges of the office. Catholics can commend him for his many long years of service to the church as a theologian, priest, bishop and pope.

The election of a new pope will likely take place in mid-March. Whoever is elected by the cardinals will face enormous challenges. Today a terrible malaise hangs over the church.

More and more people, especially young people, abandon the church, which no longer inspires them.

The credibility of the bishops and of the Vatican has been compromised by their cover up of clerical pedophilia.

An aging priesthood and a declining number of priests results in the closing of parishes, over the protests of parishioners who want ready access to the Eucharist, the center of Catholic worship.

When the Catholic people are starving for spiritual and moral guidance and direction, the Vatican and the bishops offer only sterile, negative arguments that do not correspond to the “sensus fidei,” or sense of the faith shared by all the faithful, according to the Second Vatican Council.

As the spiritual leader of Catholics throughout the world, a new pope, I hope, will fully implement the promise of Vatican II. In particular I hope that a new pope will give renewed attention to the council’s emphasis on the People of God, the whole body of the faithful who constitute the church.

By virtue of their baptism, all the faithful, both men and women, are incorporated into the priesthood of believers, and all share responsibility for carrying out the church’s mission. I hope that a new pope will acknowledge that all, as equal disciples of Jesus, have the right to take part in every aspect of the life of the church — ministerial, liturgical, theological, pastoral, administrative and financial.

I hope that a new pope will give new life to the principle of collegiality among the bishops enunciated by Vatican II and that the pope will recognize the bishops as true collaborators rather than branch managers of a worldwide corporation.

I hope that a new pope and the bishops, following his example, will engage in a dialogue with all the faithful and also with the society in which the church exists. Rather than impose rules and regulations and awkward and often unintelligible liturgical texts, a new pope, and the bishops, ought to seek out the faithful and listen to their worries, their needs and their opinions.

I hope is that a new pope and the bishops, inspired by Vatican II’s decree, “The Church in the Modern World,” will read the signs of the times and listen to the concerns and ideas expressed in the secular world.

I hope that a new pope will declare that women, truly made in God’s image, are worthy of priestly ministry.

I hope that a new pope will also embrace our homosexual brothers and sisters and treat them with humanity and love.

Above all, I hope that a new pope — like John XXIII, who summoned the Second Vatican Council — will throw open the windows wide to let in a breath of fresh air that will give new life to the church and rekindle a sense of joy and enthusiasm as we strive in our daily lives to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.