Here We Go!

So the date has been set, Tuesday 12th March. Out of this conclave will emerge the new pope. Perhaps it is a hopeful sign that the 12th is also the feast of St Gregory the Great, a pope who began the process of bringing Christendom out of the pagan darkness after the collapse of the empire ( the coincidence should not be lost on anyone).

   Up to this point what has made for interesting viewing is the cardinals of certain geographical regions and their relationship with the media.  A slap on the wrist from the secretariat was needed to stop tv interviews but still some are tweeting and blogging their little hearts out. Apparently some of their eminences did not listen to the pope emeritus when he spoke of the " virtual council and the true council",  yes that old mantra that has been trotted out for 50 years ( c'mon kids let's all say it together : documents of the council, gooood;  media spin of teachings, baaaaad!) Some of the cardinals seem very cosy with sections of the press,  keeping them informed, discussing what they think the needs of the Church are,  with the very groups who want to destroy the Church!!!
     The general congregations are winding up and now the cardinals will split into little lobby groups each touting their candidate. Hopefully they will have perceived and prayed about the needs of the Church in the coming years and will begin to come to a common consensus as to who is the best candidate.

    The new pope has a daunting task.
            The faithful are beseiged on all sides and even from within. From a secular culture that preaches the direct antithesis of Christianity, consumer/capitalism and cultural Marxism are destroying families and nations. Christendom is being wiped off the map. Islam and Evangelical Protestantism are making huge inroads, tempting away swathes of souls with their seeming certainty of their proclaimations while the Church seems ambiguous and undecided. People yearning for something rather than the vacuous and empty promises of a failed post modern wasteland look for "other", for the divine. Tragically many of these souls, when they turned to the Church, discovered more of the same, no difference between what was on the street and what was in the pews.  
    Pope Benedict began to address this, to commence the process by which the intellect of man, for years placated by the soothing promises of a glorious humanist endeavour, perceives the true nature of reality and man's place in that reality. He attempted to reintroduce the transcendent to man and to the faithful, through his writings, his speeches and the liturgy.
    The next pope will have to continue this progress, even accelerate it. Strong leadership is required to keep the barque in midstream, to jettison those who seek to steer it towards the secular shore  and to counter what will be an increasingly violent  spiritual ( and perhaps physical) persecution of the faithful.
Many prayers are needed in the days to come.