New Zealand Catholics hope the next Pope will continue Francis’ legacy of bringing the global Church together and caring for the marginalised – but opinions vary on what the new pontiff’s priorities should be. Matt Burrows reports
As they have since 1878, cardinals began their selection of a new Pope this week with a public Holy Mass at St Peter’s Basilica, before spending some time in their rooms at Domus Sanctae Marthae ahead of their first vote.
At first, a long delay prompted speculation over an early decision. Then black smoke billowed out of the Sistine Chapel’s chimney and conclave-watchers around the world prepared for another day’s wait.
Back in New Zealand, hundreds of thousands of Catholics will be anxiously looking for white smoke, signalling a decision has been made on who will lead their Church in a time of political polarisation and global unrest.
Catholic Kiwis we spoke to are by and large aligned in wanting to see the late Pope Francis’ push for a Church that’s more collaborative, that emphasises the plight of minorities, and takes strong action on clerical sexual abuse.
But they have different ideas over what the next Pope should emphasise in his papacy – with some hoping for a return to a more traditional reign, others wanting robust reform on sexual abuse and the role of women, and others simply hoping for a Pope who isn’t white.
Greg Marcar, a Catholic researcher for Otago University’s Centre for Theology and Public Issues and the Nathaniel Centre for Bioethics, says there is a “fair bit of division” amongst the Catholic church, both in New Zealand and abroad.
“Some lean towards a ‘continuity’ papacy as a preference, while others want something that conforms more with previous, more traditionalist papacies,” he explains.
“The church, in some respects, is at a bit of a crossroads at the moment, and there are significant numbers on both sides of that crossroads wanting the Vatican to travel in one direction or the other.”
Auckland-based James Bergin, a self-described ‘Catholic geek’ who is involved in various digital ministries for the church in New Zealand, said he expects the church to evolve “without losing the fundamentals of what makes the church the church”.
“I think there’s an opportunity for the pope to be more of a unifier. I think that a lot of the challenges that leaders are facing is that the more polarised the world has got, the more challenging it is to actually bring people together.”
He said Catholics throughout the country will be hoping the next Pope will “emphasise things they want emphasised”. But equally, there will be many others who will be ambivalent: “Just as long as we have a good and holy man leading the church, that’ll be a win.”
Dr Rocío Figueroa, a theologian and researcher from Te Kupenga Catholic Theological College, says one of the best ways to understand what New Zealand Catholics want from the next Pope is to examine the 15-page document that came out of the Aotearoa New Zealand Synod Consultation last year.
The consultation was an invitation from the Holy See to Catholics globally to consider how they might be part of a church that is ‘synodal’ – a term that roughly translates to a process of “walking together”; of uniting, listening to one another, and sharing in decision-making. Greater emphasis on synodality was a feature of Pope Francis’ papacy.
In the consultation, New Zealand Catholics had spoken about the need to be “welcoming and valuing everyone, without judgment”, to encourage one another, to reach out to those on the margins, and to engage more in the Church’s mission.
“There’s a big desire for there to be a less hierarchical, less monarchical church – a church in which all of us participate, in which there is more participation of lay people and priests and clerics,” said Figueroa.
Jane Maisey, a former religious sister who is now a counselling student and graphic artist based in Auckland, says she’d like the next pope to embody the title of “pontifex maximus” – Latin for “great bridge builder”.
“The job of a pope is really building a bridge between God and all humans” she said. “It’s about helping people feel seen, because all it really boils down to is to know we are loved and we can love others… that there is no separation from the love of God.”
Whoever the next pope may be, they will be entrusted with the significant challenge of managing the sometimes opposing expectations of an estimated 1.4 billion Catholics across the globe – each with their own distinct cultural contexts, interpretations of theology and doctrine, and views on moral and social issues.
One of the church’s most pressing questions is how the new pontiff will hold differing beliefs and practices together in tension.
Marcar says it’s important the next pope brings stability, unity and clarity.
“The church has been going through quite a few changes recently, and travelling into unfamiliar territories, so there’s a sense that many would like to see a renewed coherence of messaging,” he explained.
“On the other hand, I also think it’s important to continue the impetus towards a global church that is outward-looking and reflects the particular challenges that the world faces at the moment.”
Bergin says the next pope will be in an unenviable position.
“If there was a list of jobs that I would not want to do, that would be right up the top,” he said. “Because how do you get everyone on the same page when there’s over a billion of us and there’s 2000-plus years of history? Divine intervention is obviously needed.”
Maisey says the role of pope is complicated by differences from nation to nation.
“In western countries, same-sex marriage is more accepted, whereas in African countries, it’s criminalised,” she said.
“[Pope Francis] was trying to walk a fine line there, but the quality he had of an all-inclusive love is what I think is needed… That’s a difficult role when there’s so much division in the world.”
Figueroa says disagreements among Catholics always have and will exist – “that’s why we have meetings to discuss all these contentious points” – but the papacy of Pope Francis provides an “interesting” blueprint for navigating different views.
Rather than make sweeping changes across the global Catholic Church, Figueroa explains Pope Francis allowed different churches to propose changes for their own region.
“For example, because of the lack of priests in the Amazon church, the Senate of the Amazon proposed to have priests that were married. So there’s a possibility you do not have a uniform situation for everybody, but more or less localise regarding the areas.”
Much has been made of the possibility the next pope may be black or Asian, with Filipino cardinal Luis Tagle and Ghanaian Peter Turkson among those considered capable of being pontiff.
Such an appointment would break a 1500-year run of popes from Europe. Even Pope Francis, the first pontiff from Latin America, was the son of an immigrant family from Italy.
In the last century, greater efforts have been made to elevate bishops from around the world – and following Pope Francis’ papacy there is now a much stronger contingent of African, Asian and Latin American cardinals. Less than 40% of cardinals are now European.
Dr Areti Metuamate (Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Hauā), the vice-master of Australian Catholic theological university Ormond College, says while Pope Francis made steps to connect Catholics from all over the globe, now is the time for the first non-white pope.
“I think it is the next natural evolution in the church’s leadership,” he said. “I’m praying every day for this, that the new pope will be someone who knows what it’s like not to be a white man from Europe.”
Metuamate says while it’s clear there are plenty of white cardinals who are deeply committed and inclusive, it would be “really powerful” for a cardinal like Tagle or Turkson to be raised up from a non-white community representing some of the fastest-growing areas of the church.
“Wouldn’t it be refreshing to be able to say to a young Filipino, ‘Look, that could be you one day’ or ‘Look, that person leading this global institution looks like you’.
“This is something we talk about with lots of Māori communities… It’s very hard for a young person to see themselves somewhere, or see how that role or that symbol or that person represents them or stands for what they stand for, when they don’t look like them.
“It’s the 21st century now, and we have a huge number of people in Asia and Africa and the Pacific Islands who are Catholic, and many of those countries’ churches are growing significantly. Wouldn’t it be a really wonderful sign of the Church’s deep inclusivity if one of them could lead the church for a period?”
Also looming large over the conclave is the question of sexual abuse, which has been described as a “wound” by many senior Catholic clergy.
The issues weigh particularly heavily on the conscience of many New Zealand Catholics after last year’s release of the Royal Commission of Inquiry report into faith-based sexual abuse, which implicated the Catholic Church.
Figueroa, herself a survivor of clerical sexual abuse who now researches responses to sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, says Pope Francis’ push for synodality decentralised power within a Church that had given too much privilege to clergy.
She says Pope Francis identified that clericalism had enabled sexual offending within the Church.
“A lot of New Zealanders recognise that we are a wounded church because of all that has happened regarding sexual abuse, and so they are expecting to eliminate clericalism and be a more transparent church.”
She wants the next pope to ensure bishops are held to greater account when they cover up abuse or are accused of abuse themselves, and for consequences to be handed down not just to those who abuse minors, but those found to have abused adults or religious sisters too.
The synod consultation document did highlight differing views among New Zealand Catholics, though, on the role of women in the Church.
While some spoke of “resentment and anger” among women who didn’t understand why they couldn’t be priests, others described the debate as a “false path in which we lose a lot of time and money”. Another said the Church “doesn’t need to meet the definition of the secular world that purports gender equality”.
There was wider support, though, for women to be ordained as deacons, and to take up other positions of authority and responsibility outside of the priesthood.
The New Zealand Bishops Conference suggested women might be invited to sit in on meetings and advise them on decisions relating to Catholic women, in the same way Te Rōpū Māori advises on decisions relating to Catholic Māori.
Figueroa, who worked in the Holy See as head of the Women’s section in the Pontifical Council for the Laity, says it’s clear there is appetite for more women to be in decision-making positions – and while Pope Francis made “important gestures” towards greater inclusivity of women, he didn’t actually change any doctrines.
She hopes the next Pope will “take seriously the fact that women continue being second citizens”, but acknowledges the “very slow” pace of change within the Catholic Church may make major change difficult.
While a lot hinges on who becomes next Pope – and bookies are taking bets on who it’ll be – Bergin thinks there’s little chance the wrong guy will get the job.
“I believe the Holy Spirit will find the Pope we need,” he said, “and it might not be something we can see in the moment.
“Pope Francis made some proclamations and statements … [and I questioned] if they were coming from the right direction, but in retrospect, when we see the whole of his papacy, it makes a bit more sense. In the early days it’ll be hard to figure out, but there are non-negotiable aspects of how the church operates that aren’t really at risk because no one Pope can come in and suddenly change it all.
“So it’s more a matter of refining and amplifying the best parts of what the church is there to do.”
Matt Burrows is a journalist with XVOX Media Service. He writes occasional articles about religion and spirituality for the Herald.
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