Habemus Papam!

We have a Pope!

I am not Catholic, so I have been following the resignation of Benedict XVI and the interregnum/election process somewhat at a distance - but with more interest than I can remember in the election of Benedict XVI.  By my calculations this is only the 4th conclave that has happened in my lifetime, and one of only two that I can clearly remember (John Paul II was there, but I only vaguely remember the event).

Why more interest than Benedict XVI?  Because the need is greater, the situation more seemingly more dire.  Catholic Christendom, much like Protestant Christendom, seems poised on the edge of a knife.  Beset without by a culture and environment which (in my opinion) has never been more in need of the message of Christ, beset within by scandals (again, Protestant as well as Catholic), it feels as if the church is at a crossroads:  become credible and become powerful through the example of Christlikeness or begin slipping faster and faster into the irrelevant status of many former Protestant Mainline Denominations.

From what I have been able to read of Francis, he makes me both comfortable and uncomfortable - which I suppose is what we really want from any sort of leader that is going to move us forward in any sort of organization.  He seems to be a man that will push the church in certain situations and simply lead them in others.

When I first heard the choice of his name, I instantly leaped to Francis of Assisi, one of the most of famous of all the Church heroes - so famous, in fact, that he is even recognized outside of the church.  Only later, after hearing of his history, did I think on Francis Xavier, the Jesuit great missionary to Asia.  And only later, after hearing another reference, did my mind go to Francis de Sales, a great man of piety of spirituality.

Francis has said that he has chosen his name to honor Francis of Assisi (and one would think that the man would know his own mind).  But he does not suffer from the association of the other two as well because all of these men have attributes that the church of today so desperately needs.

The times are needful of truly competent leaders who are sine cera, without flaw.  A credible life goes before a credible witness.  May Francis have the courage and power to take what he has practiced privately into a world where such things need to be practiced publicly.