Hopes for the New Papacy

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Father Anthony Randazzo, pastor of Notre Dame Church Credits: Notre Dame

Hopes for the New Papacy

Rev. Anthony Randazzo

Monday, March 11, 2013 • 11:46pm

These hopes are written not as a critic of the previous papacy but as an imaginer in love with the People of God. Periods of transition call for imagination, creativity, and prayerful discernment. Take a moment and reflect upon your hopes as the 117 cardinals gather for the conclave in Rome.

These are a mere sampling of my hopes, there are others left unwritten:

I hope the new pope is an astute listener to the brokenness and suffering of humanity worldwide.
I hope the Bishop of Rome will be a Teacher of silence and meditation based on the contemplative dimensions of the Gospels.
I hope papal authority will forge a fresh dialogue with the theological community on all matters.
I hope the new pope will begin a new peace movement based on respect for life from the womb to the tomb.
I hope that as a minister of Christ the new pope will recognize the beauty of ordained ministry and marriage.
I hope that the new pope's sisters will encourage him to fight to end sexism by the inclusion of women in ordained ministry.
I hope the new Successor of Peter will revisit the Anointing of the Sick as a sacrament of healing needed by all.
I hope the new pope as supreme legislator will be about the Spirit of the law before the letter of the law.
I hope the new pope will reinvigorate the primary movements of the Second Vatican Council liturgical, biblical and ecumenical.
I hope the new pope will be a great preacher on love and do something significant to heal the pain of divorce and remarriage.
I hope the Holy Father will not be a theologian or canon lawyer but someone who has shared extensive pastoral ministry particularly in a parish setting.
I hope the new pope will just be his "true self," who he is in God's loving Spirit.