( February 14, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) In what truly qualified as 'breaking news', as opposed to the bits and pieces of pedestrian blah that gets flashed as 'hot news', Pope Benedict XVI dropped a bombshell on the world on Monday, with the announcement that he would be resigning from his position as the head of the Catholic Church at the end of this month. The 85-year-old pontiff cited poor health as the reason for the decision.
To say that many around the world were shocked by the announcement would perhaps be an understatement, for the papacy is one of the precious few institutions in the modern world that does not change very much. It maintains the appearance and traditions of the Church much as it has done since the later days of the Roman Empire. One of those traditions has been that the Pope would serve until death.
In fact, Catholics are brought up with the belief that the election of a Pope, by a college of cardinals in solemn and prayerful conclave, is done with divine guidance and would end when God willed. Records indicate Pope Benedict XVI to be the first person to resign from the papacy since Pope Gregory XII, who resigned in 1415, nearly 600 years ago.
Little wonder then that Monday's news of the resignation stunned the world. But for Sri Lanka, the surprise came tinged with a sense of amazed anticipation. For, listed among possible successors to this deeply spiritual and influential office, is the Archbishop of Colombo, His Eminence Albert Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith.
Aged 65, Cardinal Ranjith is the only Asian in the list and is the first time a Sri Lankan has been named as a papal prospective. According to the headline report in this newspaper yesterday, which quotes Rev. Benedict Joseph Fernando, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Colombo, Cardinal Ranjith stands a chance and has all the qualifications to be so ordained.
For a country that has for the past several years been deemed the nearest thing to a 'pariah state' by the international community, the mere fact that a son of this soil has the potential to scale such great heights, is a gratifying thought, a dose of glad tiding that helps put us on the map for something other than human rights violations, breakdown in democracy, post war failures and such like undesirables.
In a different sense and especially in the context of increasing religious intolerance, the papal prospect is also a dose of glad tiding that helps us set aside our differences which compartmentalize us as Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus or Muslims and exult in the recognition a fellow Sri Lankan has received in being considered for the high honour.
Cardinal Ranjith has much the same chance as the rest in the list, which The New York Times has described as a diverse group of potential new Popes. Interestingly, anyone of the papal potentials, be it from Sri Lanka, Austria, Italy, Canada, Nigeria, Ghana or United States of America, if chosen, would see the Vatican expanding the new protocol of choosing its leader from countries other than Italy, which began with Pole John Paul II who was Polish and extended to Pope Benedict XVI, who is German.
The Catholic Church is an undoubtedly influential body with more than 1 billion members worldwide. The Pope, as the leader of the Catholic Church, wields a great deal of authority. However, the Church, and by extension the Pope, have come under criticism for the conventional and conservative stance on various social and societal issues.
When Benedict was chosen as Pope, it was hoped his term would be progressive, and to a certain extent it has been. He embraced social media, held Mass for nearly 60,000 followers at Yankee Stadium and blessed Ground Zero, but his decisions and statements on crucial issues, have always been firmly conservative.
The new Pope, no matter which part of the world he comes from, will have to not only fill the larger than life size shoes of the Pope Benedict XVI, but also live up to the expectations of the global following that expects the head of the Church to progress with the changing world and address issues that are of concern to that world. One of the issues of significance will certainly be how the Church integrates with the modern secular society.
( Ceylon Today - Editorial)
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