Politics, Secrecy Play Role in Selection of Religious Leaders around World
Toronto Star
Roman Catholic cardinals will soon gather beneath Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope to succeed Benedict XVI, who retired in February. Before entering the conclave, the cardinals will have taken a vow of “inviolable secrecy” to never discuss the election. They will wear scarlet satin, symbolic of their willingness to die for the faith, and remain sequestered until they reach a two-thirds-plus-one majority. Ballots are burned after each vote. White smoke from a Vatican chimney indicates they’ve made their choice and the newly elected pope retires to the Room of Tears to don the white silk vestments symbolic of his new rank. It may have the highest profile, but the conclave is far from the only leadership selection rich in tradition and symbolism. A sampling of the ancient and modern: Tibetan Buddhism At the death of a Dalai Lama, a search party is sent to find his successor, but where to start? With visions and omens. In 1933, when the embalmed body of the 13th Dalai Lama was lying in state, it was noted that his head, which had been facing south, was now turned to the northeast. Not long after, a senior lama peered into the sacred waters of lake Lhamo Latso and saw a series of floating images: three letters, Ah, Ka and Ma; a monastery; and a small house with a gnarled juniper tree growing on its roof. Following these signs, the search party travelled to the northeast province of Amdo, near the monastery at Kumbum, which matched the description in the vision. In a nearby house, they found a 3-year-old boy who recognized one of the lamas. Certain they had found the reincarnation of the late Dalai Lama, they returned for a second visit, bringing a bell, rosary and other items belonging to the 13th Dalai Lama, along with some that had not been his. The child claimed only the former Dalai Lama’s possessions, saying, “Mine. Mine.” The child is now known as His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. There is a controversy over who will choose his successor. The Dalai Lama has mused that his successor may be born outside of Tibet (now in Chinese control) and may be a girl. That’s at odds with the Chinese, who say the next Dalai Lama will be born in Tibet and will be chosen by them. Coptic Orthodox Church The intense and emotional climax of the search for a new pope and patriarch of Alexandria comes as a blindfolded boy reaches into a glass chalice and chooses one of three slips of paper. The glass is symbolic of transparency. The blindfolded child, also chosen by lot, is said to represent the hand of God. The names of the three candidates have been winnowed from a longer list by a group of about 2,400 senior clergy and prominent lay people. The selection of the pope, regarded as a successor to St. Mark, the founder of the church, is preceded by three days of fasting in the Coptic community worldwide. Old Order Mennonite When members of this branch of the Mennonite church choose a leader — deacon, minister or the highest-ranking clergy, a bishop — they turn to the Bible. Just as Christ’s disciples chose a new member after Judas’ betrayal, Old Order Mennonites choose by lot. Candidates are nominated and their suitability is discussed in the community in a period of discernment. If there are five candidates, five identical hymn books or bibles are laid out. The bishop, who oversees the ordination service, places a slip of paper inscribed with a line of scripture into one of the books. The books are then shuffled so no one knows which one contains the paper. The candidate who opens the book with the paper is the new leader. “Some would interpret it as chance, but they would interpret it as a call from God,” says Marlene Epp, director of Mennonite studies at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo. The chosen are ministers for life. Ismaili Prince Karim Aga Khan IV inherited the title and responsibility for his people from his grandfather, who died in 1957. While he has the spiritual authority of a pope, he also cares for the temporal well-being of Ismailis around the world. The Aga Khan, who claims descent from the prophet Mohammed, was installed at the age of 20 in a ceremony in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He was draped in his grandfather’s ceremonial robes, and given the Sword of Justice and a chain of office with 49 links, signifying that he was the 49th hereditary imam. Baha’i The number nine is significant in the Baha’i faith. In elections — at all levels of Baha’i organization — adult adherents write down names of nine members of the community. Those with the most votes win one of nine seats. The number nine, the last of the single digits, is considered perfection and is the numerical value of the word Baha. The supreme level of authority is the Universal House of Justice; only men are eligible for these positions as decreed by the founder Baha’u’llah. Every five years at a meeting in Haifa, Israel, nine are chosen by about 1,500 electors from Baha’i national assemblies around the world. Taoism Taoism, China’s indigenous religion, was founded in 142 by Zhang Daoling, who styled himself the first Celestial Master and passed authority, teachings and secret scriptures to his male children and grandchildren. The tradition is said to have continued for centuries until 1948, when the 63rd Celestial Master fled to Taiwan at the onset of the communist revolution. He was succeeded by his son, but on his son’s death, China declared the leadership invalid. In 2009, a new 64th master, Zhang Daochun, was ordained in an agreement between China and Taiwan, says James Miller, a professor at Queen’s University’s School of Religion. In China all religions are supervised by Ministry of Religious Affairs. Supreme Leader of Iran The most powerful official in Iran, who controls the judiciary, armed forces and Revolutionary Guards, the media and, according to reports, the country’s nuclear program, is chosen by the Assembly of Experts for the Leadership. The assembly is a body of more than 80 scholars of Islamic law, who are popularly elected every eight years and go through a vetting process. Its members are uniformly conservative. “Most high-ranking clerics from the reformist camp have either been disqualified or refused to take part in the vetting process,” writes researcher Farideh Farhi. The position of supreme leader is for life. Ali Khamenei is only the second to hold the title after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the revolution in Iran. Church of England and the Anglican Communion The democratically elected British prime minister has the authority to appoint all bishops, including the Archbishop of Canterbury (“chaplain to the nation”) on the advice of the Crown Nominations Commission, which includes clergy and lay members. The commission, which meets at a secret location, presents two names (a preferred and a reserve) to the prime minister, who usually chooses the preferred candidate and recommends him to the Queen. “It is ironic that although the Church of England recently refused to allow women to be bishops, a woman prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, would have appointed many bishops during her time at 10 Downing Street,” Miller notes. Grand Mufti of Egypt In February, for the first time in decades, the grand mufti of Egypt was elected by senior scholars at Al-Azhar University in a secret ballot. Previously, the president of Egypt appointed the senior jurist and spiritual leader, who issues religious edicts, rules on Islamic law and is consulted in cases of capital punishment. Candidates have traditionally come from Al-Azhar university and seminary, a state-supported institution. After former president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011, the law was amended to allow leading seminarians to vote on the new leader. “The new law gives more power to the religious establishment and more independence from the presidency,” says Mohammad Fadel, a law professor at the University of Toronto. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) When a Mormon leader dies, the longest-serving member from its top leadership becomes president. It’s not an official practice, but that’s what has happened since the mid-19th century. Thomas S. Monson, now 85, one of three members of the church’s highest governing body, the First Presidency, succeeded Gordon B. Hinckley, who died at 97 in 2008. Members of the First Presidency and the second most important administration body, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, are regarded as prophets leading the church by divine revelation. The apostles must reach a unanimous decision in choosing the president. “Personal aspiration for leadership at any level is inappropriate,” the church teaches. Seniority is determined by date of ordination to the quorum. The United Church of Canada A lay person or member of the clergy can become moderator of Canada’s largest Protestant denomination. Elections are held every three years. In 2012, there were a record 15 nominations for moderator. There is no campaigning. At last year’s General Council, as it’s called, nominees wore red stoles as a way of making themselves known to delegates. Rev. Gary Paterson of Vancouver was elected on the sixth ballot by a majority vote of 353 “commissioners” or delegates. At Paterson’s installation, his spouse, Tim Stevenson, joined the outgoing moderator, Mardi Tindal, and Nora Sanders, the church’s general secretary, in laying hands on the new moderator. His task, according to the church bylaws, is leadership — “quickening in the hearts of the people a sense of God.”
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