"I am completely in your hands" Pope John Paul II , Last Will and Testament
With Pope John Paul II laid to rest, attention now turns to the qualities of the next pontiff
Shortcomings. But even if the real source of John Paul II's magnetism was grounded in his evangelical mission, observers within and outside the church are already wondering how best to shore up what he built during his papacy--and who will be best qualified to lead the church in doing so. Even John Paul II's strongest admirers admit that his greatest weakness was inattention to administrative details. The Rev. John Wauck, professor of church communications at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, explains that popes are thought to wear three hats: those, respectively, of prophet, pastor, and king. While John Paul II wore the first two quite brilliantly, the times might call for more of a king to address such issues as guiding the sometimes undisciplined clergy. Still, Wauck thinks that charisma should be the deciding factor. "I see a prophetic leader, working possibly in a more structured way."
But to others, shoring up gains means possibly loosening the grip of the pope's central administrative bureaucracy, the Curia. The Rev. Gerald O'Collins, a theologian at the Pontifical Gregorian University, notes that Vatican II called for greater collegiality and sharing of power between the universal church and its diocesan branches throughout the world.
This pope's evangelism unquestionably made the church more truly universal, but what is to be done to strengthen the church in places like Latin America, where close to half of all Catholics live but also where Protestant evangelicals and Mormons are making strong inroads? And what about Africa, where the church finds itself in head-to-head confrontation with Islam? To many, the answer is to choose a Latin American, African, or at least some other non-European, as the next pope. "It would be particularly good for Brazil to have a Brazilian pope," says Eduardo Castro, a journalist with Grupo Bandeirantes de Comunicacão. "It would be a signal to the continent where there are the most Catholics that the church is paying attention to them." The choice of São Paulo's archbishop, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, would fill this bill nicely. São Paulo is home to some 6 million of Brazil's 140 million Catholics. And his doctrinal conservatism and political profile resonate with those of John Paul II. Although Hummes opposed the liberation theology embraced by many Latin American clerics, including his predecessor in São Paulo, he also resisted Brazil's dictatorship and supported the workers' movement.
Battling secularism. But others say that the old homeland of Christendom, Europe, is in more urgent need of a European prelate at the helm. The increasing secularism of the continent, expressed not least in the absence of any mention of the influence of Christianity in the European Constitution, is deeply troubling to the cardinal-electors, about half of whom are from Europe. While not afraid of a healthy separation of church and state, Cardinal Renato Martino admits that he is bothered by what he calls "the growth of Christianophobia" that excludes all expressions of religion in the public sphere. When asked whether concerns about this question favor the choice of a European pope, he only smiles. "After all," he says, "we are all possible, even me."
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