UPDATE: Only 10 years younger than Benedict, an elderly and health challenged man for pope. Having had his share of very troubled Bishops and priests in Argentina. And a veil of accusation made more apparent recently in a court filing in Argentina making allegations of involvement re the complex and potentially life-threatening to some, interweaving of RC hierarchy in Argentina with an alleged corrupt government mission to make desaparacidos out of holy people/ priests and nuns allied with the poor– to ‘disappear them by kidnapping’. More on this allegation story, later.
Bergoglio, a thinker as Jesuits like to say, modern Jesuits being known for being shrewd in business and with trained rhetoric– a rhetoric aimed to not be ‘winning’ but to win, two very different goals.
We shall see when his actions rather than his words, are made apparent in coming months, what this newest pope is made of truly. We know that many priests, bishops, archbishops, monsignors, cardinals just want the door shut on the criminal sexual intrusion cases; wanting it all to just go away without accountability for criminal accessory acts. Others want accounts down to the bone, including release of all of the two previous pope’s actions on the thousands of complaints about sexual intrusion on children.
Many would like the war on nuns to either be done or whipped up, for the nuns own much property in hospitals and such. They’d like to see or continue to hide the actualities of the Vat bank that is out of synch with banking practices worldwide. They’d like to see the criminal and corrupt brought to justice or left alone.
They’d like to see LGBT souls allowed unequivocal welcome, or to not only ban them but to travel to foreign countries to try to influence jail and death sentence legislation against LGBT, say in African nations, for instance.
They’d like to see all divorced RC’s welcome back without opprobrium, giving them back their seat at the table of Eucarist that was wrongfully taken away by men never married. And some want to the opposite, for the church to punish those who divorced, or else pay steep $$$$$ for unmarried clergy to ‘annul’ a marriage in some pro forma kingship deigning.
They’d like to see women be consecrated not only as nuns, but also as priests, or else burnt at the stake colloquially.
They’d like the thinkers and prophets silenced by Ratzinger to be welcomed back in communion, or else set on an ice floe forever.
They’d like for people to be judged by heart of love rather than gender– or for people to continue to be seen as male or female, rather than by heart and charisms.
They’d like for the missions of Christ to be foremost, rather than hanging onto power by mere men with their pet projects that have little to do with gospel of love— or because they derive political or financial gain, to continue the exclusionary fiefdoms of certain clergy.
In the meantime, quite a few note that the pomp of this day in Rome toward a human being as pope-elect, is the exact opposite of what Christ preached. Some have called the temporal public relations the Vatican unleashed on this conclave, The Pope-a-palooza.
But, despite all the roil of tourists and retinue, we shall wait and see. Not now in the midst of such mardi gras. A month from now. When all the applausers go home.
When the pope is as alone as a pope ever is with such many helpers to feed and carry and convey the pope’s will… we will see truly then what he and his angels and his Lord, then convene and call forth.
Many many pray for a new papal bull that breaks into complete love and acceptance of all humans unequivocally and without set-asides for those who are not Roman Catholic. Many pray for a new and in depth form of kindness –and yet acute insight into evil-doing, pandering, sucking up, and criminal careerist clergy and Catholics who support criminality in the Church.
We shall see.
Many are no longer stirred by pretty pope words in bulls or encyclicals. Many have seen and duly noted popes’ split personality of condemnation of peoples while preaching “love.” Of currying favor with those of wealth, whilst ignoring to help the poor in their hard core and brutal realities, while giving the poor gratuitous blessings on their bowed and broken bones, saying their ‘reward is in heaven.’ Basta. As preached to the rich, the dominion of the so very poor is also to enjoy all permitted gain and prosperity on Earth.
For a new pope: Many many hard issues to face head on in honesty, instead of gloss over as previous popes have done. The British, Russian, Spanish, Kahnian, Alexandrian, Reichian, Vatican States, Roman Empires failed because they could not control nor govern all the lands they had ‘conquered’ by murder and mayhem whilst extracting ‘tribute.’ They lost lands, constituents, serfs, armies, and ultimately, their souls.
Of necessity and push back, the conquerers holdings became much smaller, and even then, human nature sometimes tries to corrupt even the smaller.
The pope has a near impossible job to heal hearts left wounded for decades, to be not fair day, but lifetime ally, to unify, to remonstrate the cruel and unaccountable, to tell truth that is temporal [including the Vat’s sad state of finances], to reign in the hubris in some of his own ‘helpers’ in the priesthood and nunhood, and advisors, to allow in disinfectant sunlight, to open the dark places, to expand what has been held too tightly, to close off within the church those who have desecrated the mission.
To remind that the sentimental is not religion, regalia and tourism dollars are not religion, fine clothing and fine wine, is not religion. Knowing Senators and cultural crones, is not religion. Cameras are not religion. Press releases and lobbying are not religion that Christ unleashed. News coverage is not religion.
As the Nazarene told us, it is the daily work in the face of so much suffering, the raising up of the soul, the education, medicines, helps to the suffering souls– spiritually and physically, mentally and heart wise, that are the point of religion. Education and understanding about this world, and the next.
May new Holy Father be led by the true Christ and especially the Sermon on the Mount, not by Christ’s many variegated followers and their rhetorics that often veer far from the Nazarene’s loving, teaching nature via some few followers’ dement, hatred and demotion of innocent others.
May el Corazon Sagrado, the preimminant Sacred Heart of Jesús guide and be followed, as it has not been followed for decades.
Yet, Hope springs eternally in many, for Hope is artesian, not manmade.
We shall see.