Blooming Stars - Swami (Dr) Snehanand Jyoti
It may be time for Pope Benedict XVI to resign if
he is not mentally and physically fit so that his cronies will not be able to
run the Church in his name in his feeble days. There is nothing wrong in a Pope
resigning. Popes in the past have resigned. There is nothing theological or
spiritual about a Pope governing the Church for life. It may be one of the best
services to pave way for others especially since he has spent almost all his
life for his Church. It is time that we get rid of bad precedence and traditions.
It is time for accepting the reality of old age and the problems associated
with it. A Pope is no exception to the human condition related to old age. It
is the right time to begin the process of electing the new Pope and his
council, after the present Pope’s resignation, by clergy and laity elected from
the various dioceses of the world. This way the rumor mill of the world
speculating about the health of the old Pope and speculations about the new
Pope can be put out of business.
Grace is built on nature. Good, sound, and
effective managerial practices from the secular world can be adopted to govern
the greatest spiritual organization that is the Catholic Church in the world.
If it is not a spiritual organization, it has no business to continue to exist.
Its leaders need to be truly time-tested spiritual persons imbued with Christ’s
spirit. They need to be ready and willing to be guided by the Holy Spirit. On
occasion one wonders if the Church leaders at present are not, unwittingly,
trying to micro-manage the workings of the Holy Spirit! The new Pope as a
nominal spiritual head of the Catholic Church and his council can give general
guidelines for the Church members to form their conscience and live a life
according to Christ’s teachings. This system of minimal governance can only
enhance the stature of the Catholic Church instead of diminishing it. The
mechanics of the elections and a minimum program on spirituality and formation
of clergy and laity can be left to the Third Vatican Council. All, especially theologians, spiritual
guides, and reform-minded Catholics can offer suggestions with regard to the
New Catholic Church that will make every effort to work for unity of
Christianity, cooperation with other religions, and, above all, unity of
humanity that is in the image of God. While the chief Church center can be in
the Vatican City, there can be four sub-centers in the four corners of the
world. The Catholic Church, universal as it is, is ideally equipped to help
model and create without interference a secular, democratic world government
that will express a political unity of humanity. (To be Continued).
Swami (Dr) Snehananda Jyoti
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