New Pope 13.2.13.

The election of the  new Pope will cause  excitement in places high and low. In high places because governments have an interest in 1)getting the “right” person into the position and 2) keeping the “wrong” one out. The words right and wrong being of course in the sense governments mean by the words – what profits them and hurts their opponents. Their interest in morals or ideas like truth, freedom, happiness is self serving.

For a long time  some governments were anxious to have a Pope who would aid their struggle against communism. Getting one was easy, and using the resources of the Catholic church ,  material, intellectual and spiritual , was easy also. So that got done. Then governments need prominent  people who either will not oppose their wars or will approve  them   “in certain circumstances”.  That gets done too.

Keeping the wrong one out of prominent positions including papacy is not all that difficult because   often churches have been , not a loyal opposition, but a supporter of government policies.  Cardinal Basil Hume had a notable – and public –disagreement with one of his senior clergy because that man campaigned against nuclear deterrents in Britain and the Cardinal was in favour of nuclear deterrents in Britain and the US. Getting popes and cardinals on side has been an important – and for churches damaging –  part  of the policy of governments.

Now there are  changes . Trade with China means  governments  have to be more diplomatic, because  China will be  the hub of the most massive trade possibilities the world has ever known. And the policy of making the US,  France , Britain  or NATO the police of the world with sole right to nuclear arms is not going to work as the Koreans and others are showing. Crude anticommunism and crude forceful control are  just too crude nowadays.

Also, if the new Pope proposes or encourages or even permits   new church attitudes to divorce, abortion etc. – a very delicate but not impossible task – this could please a lot of governments,  but taking a traditional stance on such things need not matter much to them because more and more people will probably swing over to  a more “liberal” side anyway.

So what will decide how the election will go ? The truth is we don’t know because we don’t   get enough information about who is influencing whom.  What we do know is that it is  difficult for a  Pope to have a free hand surrounded by so many arrangers, influencers, advocates and civil servants. The passage of a suggestion from the Pope’s desk going round the departments and back again can often result in a somewhat different suggestion landing  on the Pope’s desk  for his signature.

And none of the papal gifts, human or divine, will necessarily  cope with that successfully .

So really  what perhaps we should be asking is – who will the civil servants be?