Choose the Better Way: Love Above All

As our Catholic friends start their Conclave this week to determine the next leader of their church, I have become a tad obsessed reading about the history of Vatican City & the rituals/traditions involved in electing a new Pope.

Aside: One can easily imagine a conversation about the selection process of the new Pope on a KC Sports radio station:
Commentator: If you are the College of Cardinals, you have to put in a call to Coach Andy Reid, don’t you? He would probably turn it down, but you have to at least ask to see if he’d be Pope, right?
Host: Um. I’m pretty sure the Pope has to be Catholic.
Commentator: Seriously?
Host: We’ll pause for station identification.

I have whittled down my reading to share just 3 tidbits:

• Vatican City is on the site of Nero’s Circus, an open-air track with accompanying grandstands to hold chariot races, etc. during Nero’s reign as Emperor. It would also later be the site of the martyrdom for thousands of Christian believers, probably including the Disciple Peter who was crucified upside-down. (An Egyptian obelisk that was in the center of the track still stands in the middle of St. Peter’s Square today.)
• Each Pope is given the “Ring of a Fisherman” depicting the Apostle Peter drawing in a net full of fish. This ring is inspired by Mark 1:17, to become “fishers of men,” and the signet ring was used by Popes to sign personal documents. Upon death of the Pope, the ring is ceremoniously destroyed with a silver hammer so no one can forge Papal correspondence during the “Sede Vacante” when the seat is open.
• The Conclave is held in the Sistine Chapel & each Cardinal presents his vote while standing before Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment.” There is an ante-room just to the left of the Sistine Chapel where the newly elected Pope will don his robe for the 1st time. It is known as the “Room of Tears,” because as the new Pope realizes the awesome responsibility he has been given, he is overcome with emotion.

Aside: When our family toured the Sistine Chapel, I thought it was interesting that there were no hand dryers in the men’s washroom. Just Papal towels.

During my reading, I was reminded of Joseph Stalin’s quote about the Pope. In 1935, during a meeting with the Prime Minister of France, there was a discussion about the tension between religion & communism. Stalin dismissed such concerns saying, “The Pope. How many divisions has he got?” *

This quote illustrates the challenge of today’s theme. Too often, we are tempted to reduce all interactions, be it negotiations, conversations or correspondence to the idea that force or strength is the only path to success. I would concur that the “might makes right” philosophy can be a good short-term strategy, but long-term it always fails.

Aside: Sadly, there was a Cardinal named Purree who never really had a chance to be elected Pope. You can’t have a Pope named Pope Purree – he’d never live down the nickname “The Hobby Lobby Pope.”

As a possible counter-example to this philosophy, consider the life of Karol Wojtyla, a Polish priest who would become Pope John Paul II in 1979. Karol grew up in a Poland that forced him to escape & hide from Nazi’s on multiple occasions & as a Priest wrestle with the heavy-handed regulations of the Communist government. Karol would be an “orphan” by the age of 20–his mother, father, & 2 siblings were all gone.

Upon being elected Pope, John Paul II immediately issued his 1^st Encyclical (Pastoral Letter) that emphasized that the dignity of man required that he be free to pursue God, & that man cannot exist without love. In June 1979, Pope John Paul II visited his homeland Poland amidst great tension. The communist government intended to use his visit as propaganda for their regime & if the Pope stirred up any unrest the crowds would be violently crushed. The Pope out-foxed the communists. During his 8-day visit, he drew millions as he urged his countrymen to never compromise their faith, to be fearless, to remember that only God, not governments, can be the source of goodness in the world. The crowd responded with chants of, “We want God!  We want God!”

This visit initiated the “soft revolution” that, with the assistance of Lech Walesa, President Reagan, & Prime Minister Thatcher, 10-years later would lead to the dismantling of the communist regimes in Poland, East Germany, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, & Hungary. Millions of people were now free from oppression, without a shot being fired. Now imagine how different our own worlds (homelife, neighborhood, office, & community) would look if we tried to mimic John Paul II’s example of love.

To wrap up, legend has it that when Peter was crucified the last object he saw was the Egyptian Obelisk in the middle of Nero’s Circus. Interestingly, the 1^st object the new Pope will see as he stands on the balcony before thousands of cheering Christians in the Square named for St. Peter will be the exact same Obelisk. The Roman Emperors? Long gone. The Church? Still here. Love CAN conquer all.

* Goodreads.com

Here’s an upbeat song to help us remember our goal:

Seals & Crofts -Love Conquers All