Papal sweepstakes

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

On Friday, May 2, we celebrated, as we do every year, the memorial of St. Athanasius, who lived in the 4th century. He was bishop of Alexandria. He participated as a deacon in the Council of Nicea, which took place in the year 325 between May and August, exactly 1700 years ago. Pope Francis ardently wished to participate in the celebrations planned to commemorate this event.

The 4th century was very consequential in the history of the Church. We must remember that it was during that century, in the year 313 to be precise, that the Edict of Milan enabled Christians to freely practice their faith.

The 4th century was also the heyday of the great Christological heresies. In an attempt to explain the faith of the Church to the pagans, some clerics and theologians had recourse to concepts or ideas that created confusion, sometimes even contradicting the established teachings of the Church or distorting the message of the Gospels. That was the case, for example, of Arius whose teachings became the foundation of a heresy known as Arianism, maintaining that Jesus Christ was not coeternal with the Father, but rather that He had been created, and was effectively a kind of demiurge.

The Council of Nicea reaffirmed the faith of the Church in the divinity of Jesus and condemned the thesis of Arianism, formulating for us the Creed that we pray every Sunday which outlines the faith of the Church with logical propositions. The composition of the Creed and its acceptance was not devoid of controversies. One of them had to do with the adoption of the word “homoousios”, rendered in English as “consubstantial”, to assert the divinity of Jesus Christ. That Greek Word had been used before by a theologian by the name Paul of Samosata who gave it a completely different meaning, to a large extent contrary to the one proposed by the Council of Nicea. That is why many resisted its inclusion in the Creed. Eventually, the orthodox understanding of both the person of Christ and the language proposed prevailed. However, the Christological controversies did not end there. Arianism did not disappear. Many other interventions of the Magisterium were needed. Thanks to the suffering, teachings and testimony of saints, such as St. Athanasius, the Church remained faithful despite Arianism which had disseminated and had become quite popular even among bishops.

We ought not to be surprised that the Church remained faithful because, notwithstanding the tenacity of St. Athanasius and others like him, the guarantor of the life of the Church is the Lord Himself. Indeed, in Mathew 16, Jesus makes a solemn proclamation: “the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against her”, that is against the historic, visible, hierarchical Church He intended to create and entrust to Peter.

During these days before the beginning of the conclave that will elect the new pope, media outlets offer us a sort of papal sweepstakes, with candidates, celebrities, favorites and the like. Setting aside the ever present, repetitious and nauseating sociological reduction of the Church that leaves no room for mystery or the action of the Spirit, it is truly striking to see the superficiality, ignorance of history and sheer lack of professionalism shown by so many communicators and commentators.

We must never forget that first and foremost the Church is a supernatural reality whose head is Christ. Animated by the Holy Spirit, she journeys through time towards the consummation of history in God. What is essential in her life is communion with Christ together with Peter, not uniformity.

Needless to say, in the Church there are nuances, controversies, differing criteria and cultural diversity. There may also be power struggles, cabals, cliques, ambition and vanity because in her there is grace and sin: the grace of God and the sin of men. Grace, however, always carries the day, as St. Paul explains in Romans 5:20.

Through the history of the Church there have been holy popes and those that were not so holy, as well as some that left a lot to be desired. Whoever may be that ends up being elected in the conclave that is about to begin on May 7, he will be Peter. We may or may not find him friendly. He may or may not be charismatic. He may or may not have many academic degrees. He may be affable and extroverted or circumspect and introverted. He may hail from the same place that we do or not. Beyond all these issues, he will be our universal shepherd and the Vicar of Christ on earth. This last consideration is the only one that matters.

The papal sweepstakes played by the media may be the subject of a conversation over a cup of coffee, material for a moment of leisure or an inconsequential chat but does not affect in the least the life of the Church. It may be useful to them who wish to sell newspapers or attract an audience. Let us not fall in the fatuous mediocrity of the media. What is much more interesting than participating in the papal sweepstakes offered to us is to actively participate in the conclave. Undoubtedly, we can influence the election in a decisive way through our fervent prayers for the cardinals and for the next pope.

The life of St. Athanasius demonstrates that personal holiness is a must to help the Church move forward. May we heed the words of pope Francis who encouraged us to ask the Holy Spirit “to pour out upon us a fervent longing to be saints for God’s greater glory and let us encourage one another in this effort. In this way, we will share a happiness that the world will not be able to take from us.” Indeed, in this way, we will build up the Church of Christ journeying with Peter and under his authority towards the consummation of history while she proclaims to all, all, all the Gospel of the Risen Lord.