The Conclave

Watching the coverage of the Conclave in Rome reminds of a briefing I once attended during my short 20+ year stint in the Marine Corps. The briefer, as they almost always are, was some haggard colonel. He was talking to a group of general officers. The issue was some thorny, complicated, earth shattering matter dealing with pumping fresh water ashore from a ship at sea during an exercise in Thailand. Of course going to a local tap and giving it a quick twist wouldn’t do. No the water had to come from the ship nearly two-and-half miles off-shore.

The briefer started by saying, “Well general, there two ways we are going to get this done - the realistic way and the miraculous way. First the realistic way. St. Peter and hundred angels and arc angels come down from heaven and do it for us.” The general interrupts and says, “You mean the miraculous way. You said ‘first the realistic way’ but the angels would be the miraculous way – right?” The briefer says, “No sir. St. Peter and the angels is the realistic way. The miraculous way would be if we are able to figure it out ourselves.” Well, the fresh water came ashore. If fact, so much water came ashore, that they ended up dumping it back into the sea. It must have been a miracle because I didn’t a single angel in the entire process.

So, what does that have to with the Conclave? I’m sure many of the Cardinals walking into that room have the mind-set of the haggard colonel. How will they, mere mortals, be able to figure the problem out and do what is best for the church? I was watching one of the gabfests as the cardinals were entering the Sistine Chapel to choose the next Pope. The show had a priest acting as the “expert commentator” as if were some sporting event. Some off camera voice says, “Father, what are the Cardinals doing now?” The priest says something like, “They are praying to the Holy Spirit for guidance. They are asking God for wisdom as they contemplate perhaps the most important decision of their lives.” The off camera voice intones, “And they truly believe in Divine intervention and guidance?” “Oh yes. We all believe. It’s called faith” answers the priest.

So, the Cardinals go in realistically praying for Divine intervention and a Pope emerges as the result of a miracle. How else can you explain Polish John Paul the great ending a 400 year Italian strangle hold on the papacy? Picking a Pope is like picking a Supreme Court Justice. You think you know what you’re getting but you really don’t know until you see the opinions on the landmark cases. The same is true with Popes. John XXIII was an old over-weight diabetic chosen to be a caretaker pope but, he gave the church Vatican II. So, one never knows. The gabbers will peg the new pope as a conservative or “progressive” as soon as he is announced. But we won’t know for several years how the next pope really thinks. So, as always, it’s best to ignore the gabbers.

Oh yea, is that dopey woman who protests the all male membership rules at Augusta Country Club set up in Vatican Square? It seems like an ideal location for her since the Masters has come and gone.