Today, when the cardinals meet to
choose a new Pope, I can not help thinking how everything looks like the
preparations for the Oscar.
The newspapers do not stop to report how many cardinals belong to the conclave, how the Sistine Chapel is organized for the meeting, how the ceremony will be, who are the "nominees" and the possible winners of the most important chair of the Catholic Church. Even the papal attire has been the focus of news on television. Now wonders are about the "mystery" of the black smoke and the white smoke.
Like the Oscars, there are those who naively believe that the chair (or the statue?) will be given to an African or Latin American, when everyone knows that the "prize" will always go to someone from inside the house (in this case, the house is Europe). As in the academy awards, some candidates should feel fulfilled by being considered to compete with those who surely will take the title.
It seems that the world forgets all current scandals involving the institution that has been, and remains, the main character of major scandals throughout its history. Everything looks like a big party. I bet there are some brazilians thinking that a green and yellow smoke will come out of the Vatican's chimney.
It's possible to understand what a Pope means for those who are within the Church, for those who live in convents and seminaries, but for people who are not involved in religious life, which is the true importance of the Pope in their lives? How and why does this affect their belief? I do not follow any religion, but I believe that being Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, etc., means to choose the tools that best suit you to reach God. The tools are available for centuries, with or without the Pope. The way a person relates to the Supreme Being is individual. You can follow certain rules, certain ways, but what a person enthroned in Rome can change in the lives of those who believe? What real difference does it make to the millions of Catholics around the world? The time when papal authority intervened in governments, wars and private lives so incisive and definitive is gone. Today, its influence still exists, but diminished. The Church stopped in time, it does not update itself, it doesn not want to deal with the reality of life in the twenty-first century and the issues that it brings. What does a pope today?
While the ceremony is not over, as in Oscar, thousands of people are expecting. In this case, which statue will be given away? Best fiction screenplay or best supporting actor? Because, definitely, not best director.
The newspapers do not stop to report how many cardinals belong to the conclave, how the Sistine Chapel is organized for the meeting, how the ceremony will be, who are the "nominees" and the possible winners of the most important chair of the Catholic Church. Even the papal attire has been the focus of news on television. Now wonders are about the "mystery" of the black smoke and the white smoke.
Like the Oscars, there are those who naively believe that the chair (or the statue?) will be given to an African or Latin American, when everyone knows that the "prize" will always go to someone from inside the house (in this case, the house is Europe). As in the academy awards, some candidates should feel fulfilled by being considered to compete with those who surely will take the title.
It seems that the world forgets all current scandals involving the institution that has been, and remains, the main character of major scandals throughout its history. Everything looks like a big party. I bet there are some brazilians thinking that a green and yellow smoke will come out of the Vatican's chimney.
It's possible to understand what a Pope means for those who are within the Church, for those who live in convents and seminaries, but for people who are not involved in religious life, which is the true importance of the Pope in their lives? How and why does this affect their belief? I do not follow any religion, but I believe that being Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, etc., means to choose the tools that best suit you to reach God. The tools are available for centuries, with or without the Pope. The way a person relates to the Supreme Being is individual. You can follow certain rules, certain ways, but what a person enthroned in Rome can change in the lives of those who believe? What real difference does it make to the millions of Catholics around the world? The time when papal authority intervened in governments, wars and private lives so incisive and definitive is gone. Today, its influence still exists, but diminished. The Church stopped in time, it does not update itself, it doesn not want to deal with the reality of life in the twenty-first century and the issues that it brings. What does a pope today?
While the ceremony is not over, as in Oscar, thousands of people are expecting. In this case, which statue will be given away? Best fiction screenplay or best supporting actor? Because, definitely, not best director.
