All eyes will be on Rome tomorrow as 115 voting age cardinals of the Catholic Church begin the conclave to select the 266th Bishop of the Eternal City.
Amid all the scandals and controversies the Church is mired in, one thing is certain: The world still looks to the Chair of Saint Peter for guidance.
How else can one explain the presence of more than 5,000 journalists from the world over now in the Vatican to cover the historic papal election?
Catholics may assail the inquisitorial stance of secular media towards the Church, but the skepticism is largely fueled by the demand for a new credibility in an institution that for all intents and purposes carries the voice of conscience in a globalized world.
The most perceptive Catholic clergy do not contest the urgency of ridding the Church of the defects that have been drowning out its message of faith, hope, love and salvation.
These include first and foremost the phenomenon of sexually abusive priests, and as last year’s leak of confidential papers by Paolo Gabriele, the former Pontiff’s butler showed, the obsession with earthly power that has hobbled members of the Roman Curia or the Pope’s cabinet.
Betting and political speculation on who will be the next Pope is but a noisy side show in the face of the responsibility that the men of the red hats have to carry out.
For Catholics, the most important elector in the conclave will not be the confidential report on the Vatileaks affair that will only be available to the next Pope.
The ultimate power broker will be the Holy Spirit, whom the cardinals will invoke in the Missa Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice (Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff) and in the singing of the Veni Creator Spiritus (Come Creator Spirit).
The faithful know that it will take no less than heavenly inspiration for the cardinals to elect a saint: Someone with the joy of Blessed John XXIII, the missionary energy of the Venerable Paul VI, the charisma of Blessed John Paul II, the intellect and teaching acumen of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and the love for Christ and humility of Saint Peter the Fisherman.
Catholics know they have an obligation to pray for enlightenment for the cardinals and courage for the next Pope.
They know that in the words of novelist Morris West, “The man who [wears] the Fisherman’s ring… carried also the sins of the world… He stood on a lonely pinnacle, alone, with the spread carpet of the nations before him, and above, the naked face of the Almighty. Only a fool would envy him the power and the glory and the terror of such a principality.”