A Short Ramble About Papal Succession

Recently, Pope Benedict XVI, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, made his decision public and official that he is resigning his papal office. There is very little precedent for this except that of Gregory VII, some 600 years ago. Generally, when a Cardinal is elected Bishop of Rome, he remains in that office until his death. His Holiness chose to resign because of his age and increasing infirmity, and he didn't want that to interfere with all that the papal office requires.

What I find fascinating and bewildering is all the “experts” speculating about what kind of “change” the election of a new Bishop of Rome could or should bring to the Roman Catholic Church. There are some who are hoping for more recognition of homosexuality, the ordination of women, or other changes both major and minor.

What bewilders me, is that these experts don't seem to understand a very fundamental fact of the nature of the Church and its clergy. The clergy of the Church don't have the power to change the Church, they are only charged with its maintenance. They aren't charged with making it more progressive and adaptive. They're charged with protecting the sacred trust which was handed to them. They have a responsibility to guard the teachings and practices of the Church which have passed from generation to generation since the first century. To modify those teachings and practices is to say that Jesus Christ and His Apostles didn't know what they were doing, or didn't possess the fullness of the Gospel. In a way, the Roman Catholic Church has already gone much farther from that original deposit of faith than it should have with its decrees of papal infallibility and clerical celibacy, things which the ancient Church wouldn't have recognized or taught.

The primary role of a Bishop, any Bishop including the Bishop of Rome, is that of a pastor. His role is not as a politician, a monarch, or a CEO. His role is to guide and shepherd the congregation God has charged him with, while also maintaining his own relationship with God. Any new papal candidate needs to have this understanding above all others, and from what I understand, most do.

As the resignation of Benedict XVI and the election of a successor play out, what should be looked for is not some radical new change, but the consistency and continuity, as much as is possible within the Roman Church, of an unchanged ancient faith which was entrusted to them.