A word from the editor in chief: It is quite difficult to describe just how much conversation is going on around Rome right now, at all kinds of different levels of “officialness.” And yet, as Father James Martin captures so well below, while the conclave process is following a script whose age is measured in centuries, it’s still profoundly unclear even to its participants exactly what is happening moment to moment.
That certainly makes this an exciting moment in the life of the church but can also make it a tense one. But I find, at least for myself, that I am much less tense when I remind myself that it’s not my mission—not even as a Jesuit who is also a journalist—to know everything that’s going on. Nor is that anyone’s mission in the church. As St. John XXIII is supposed to have said during his nightly prayers: “It’s your church, Lord. I’m going to bed.”
The mission that is actually entrusted to us, amid conclave preparations and then in union with the next successor of Peter, is to announce the Gospel and help people encounter God. Not that we need to know everything about how to do that, but it’s a place to begin. – Sam Sawyer, S.J.
William Goldman in the Vatican: Nobody knows anything
By James Martin, S.J.
The novelist and screenwriter William Goldman (known for his work on “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “All the President’s Men” and “The Princess Bride”) is probably best known for his dictum about Hollywood: “Nobody knows anything.” In other words, while everyone says that they know what’s going on, no one really does.
I’ve been thinking a lot about William Goldman over the past few days in Rome. One hears so many people speaking confidently about what’s going on in the general congregations leading up to the conclave. And much of what you hear, spoken with enormous confidence, by people in the know, is often completely contradictory.
For example:
Cardinal Pietro Parolin has a lock on the votes of the Italian cardinals because they believe it’s their last chance to elect an Italian. No, no, no, says another person, that’s completely wrong: Look at how divided the Italian bishops’ conference is! Cardinal Luis Tagle blotted his copybook because of some mismanagement in Caritas, which was under his care. No, says another, that’s ridiculous. Everyone knows that was clearly not his fault, and besides, people don’t care about that here in Rome at all. He’d be a great pope! Cardinal Matteo Zuppi is too close to Sant’Egidio for him to win since people are suspicious of that group’s influence. No, of course not, says another, it shows definitively that he is close to the poor!
We need a calm, administrative Pope Paul VI type after Francis’ more revolutionary “Pope John XXIII papacy,” goes one argument. No, we don’t, we need someone just as charismatic as Francis, and the College of Cardinals knows this: They surely noticed all the youth at the funeral Mass! No, no, no, those youths were only here for the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis. No, that’s wrong, too, says another: They may have been here for Carlo Acutis, but they were cheering loudly during Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re’s homily when, quoting Pope Francis, he said that the church is for “Tutti, tutti, tutti.” Plus, look at the lines outside the tomb of Pope Francis at Santa Maria Maggiore!
A few cardinals have given interviews, which has opened a door to some of the main lines of thought in the general congregations: unity versus diversity, continuity versus change, charisma versus managerial skills. This lets us in on a bit of the discussions. But only a bit. In the end, even the cardinals don’t know for sure who will be elected.
So maybe what William Goldman said about Hollywood could be said about the Vatican: Nobody knows anything. As far as the election goes, for now, the only one who knows something is the most important participant of all: the Holy Spirit.
Here are the other stories you need to read today:
- Conclave Podcast: Will the next pope be Italian? And the unfinished business of Francis’ papacy
- Today, the College of Cardinals released a statement confirming all 135 members are eligible to participate in the conclave—despite exceeding the limit of 120 cardinal electors established by St. Paul VI and upheld by later popes.
- The cardinals also thanked Cardinal Angelo Becciu, whose conviction on embezzlement is under appeal, for stating yesterday that he would not participate in the conclave.
- Cardinal Louis Sako, the Iraq-based patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, told reporters on April 29 that he expects the conclave to be brief and last two to three days. While not revealing a name, Cardinal Sako said he already had a “very clear” idea of who he intended to vote for.
