The New Pope : 

Francis of Argentina

 

After reading my articles on Pope's election, many of my relatives, students and esteemed readers had asked some questions. I had consolidated the questions and answered below. 

Q : Where did the 115 Cardinals stay during the conclave ?

A : A little away from the Sistine Chapel where the secret election was conducted, there is Santa Martha Hotel.

Cardinals were taken from the chapel to this hotel using  mini buses. The staff of the hotel had taken  the oath of secrecy. The cardinals had no external contact. In this hotel , the  regular foods  were served to the cardinals. Here they stayed during nights.  Majority  are aged  and suffering from age related health problems, they need proper rest and medical care. Doctors and nurses who had taken oath of secrecy were at their service.

Q: Who looks after the administrative work of  the Pope ?

Curia, It is the bueaucratic body of the Vatican state or Church government. The entire International Relation and internal administrations are looked after by them. Some of the staff of Curia had involved in some financial frauds.This had brought a bad name to the Church. Former Pope was ashamed of this, he failed to bring these staff under his control.They exploited his age and health. They had grown  beyond control. They had taken the power from appointing Bishops to taking action on abusive priests. They had destroyed the harmony of the Church. The new pope has to tackle them.

Q :Who looks after the security of pope ?

A :Papal Swiss Guards, from 1506 AD, the Swiss Guards take care of the security of the  pope.They are well trained young soldiers below thirty years of age and bachelors. Usually they are between 200 and 250 in number.They are Swiss citizens trained in Swiss and deputed by Swiss government.

Q Who leaked the private documents of  the former pope ? 

A: His own butler, whom he trusted, betrayed him  like Judas and leaked his private papers to the journalists in 2012, This has made the former pope embarrassed. This is also one of the reasons for his resignation. the butler had agreed that he had stolen the documents. He was sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment in Oct 2012. On Dec 22, former pope pardoned him. The leaked papers damaged the image of the Church. Journalists made use of this opportunity to become heroes. One reporter Nuzzi became a celebrity of Italy  by publishing a book," His Holiness,The secret papers of pope Benedict XVI." 

Q: What are the sex scandals ?

A: There are  4,10,593 priest in the world. They come under the control of Bishops who are 5,002 in number. Total catholics are 120 crores ( 1.2 billion ). Among the more than 4 lakhs priest, a few had involved in sex scam. This has totally tarnished the  image of the Catholic Church. Former pope openly accepted the sex scam and deeply regretted for it.

The shameful  sex scam of a  few clergy had made the former pope sleepless. The world wide catholics bowed their heads down and remain helpless.

Q :What will be the future of RC Church ?

A : The Cardinals have elected the new pope from Argentina. Nobody expected him to become the pope. When the new pope named ' Francis ' appeared  first time before the people who where waiting to get his first blessing, his face  was full of tension. He very well knows the fractured image of the Church. His responsibilty is boundless.

He has to put the Church in the  right track. It is a himalyan task. God had chosen him through the cardinals. The people were waiting in lakhs to get his first blessings,but his concluding words were," I WANT YOU TO BLESS ME."

No time in the history,  a pope  had asked people to bless him. He has asked people's  blessing in the form of co-operation with prayers to clean the tainted R. C .Church. Using his holiness and charisma, new pope should make the Church to resurrect.

Q : What are challenges of the new pope ?

A : He has to find solution for many problems faced by the Church. It is not so easy , it has to  be done without affecting the basic doctrines of the Church. Major changes can be done only by convening the Vatican Council.

1) Abortion - now the Church is against abortion.

2) Same sex wedding- now the Church is against it on the grounds that it is against God's plan.

3) Priesthood for women- now in the RC Church there are no women priests. Nuns should not  be mistaken  as priests, they are not ordained as priests. They cannot celebrate a holy mass, only  ordained priests can celebrate a mass. Nuns are members of some congregations meant for  doing some service to the society.They are not priests. When pope's election was in   process , two topless girls came to the front of the St.Peter's Church, Rome and demonstrated to accord priesthood to the  women. Through out the world some catholic womenorganisations are demanding for it.

4) Marriage for priests- now marriage for priests  is not allowed in  the Catholic Church. Protestant pastors are allowed.Because of the sex scams , some of the catholics feel, marriage to the priest can be allowed. Some feel, if marriage is allowed , financial corruption will start and priest will amass Church funds for their generation.

5 ) Divorce -now Church does not permit divorce. Church considers the marriage as sacred. It is very, very difficult to get divorce.Only on extraordinary cases after proper verification divorce is given. Suppose, a boy married a girl and after some years comes to know that she is  his  own sister ( very rare case), divorce will  be given immediately. Suppose a boy suffering from an incurable disease before wedding and marries a girl without disclosing it, after proper verification of the previous medical reports , divorce will be given. Otherwise , no divorce is given in the Catholic Church.

6) Restoring discipline in the Curia  Curia is the administrative body of Vatican. The new pope from Argentina, who lived with poor, travelled in  trams, walked miles to meet people will certainly know the means to  clean the rotten Curia. If Curia is cured many problems will be solved.

7) Shortage of catholic priests World wide there is a big shortage for catholic priests. New pope should come forward to start new seminaries ( theology colleges ) to produce more  priests. Priests who involve in immoral activity  should immediately be dismissed. For this kind of stringent action, there should  be more priests.

 

================================M S Vincent , California USA , 13th March 2013.