Reflection For Our Time
Steve Sheehan – Survivor Support advocate

The passing of Pope John Paul II marks the end of a significant era in both world and church history. In the 24 years of his pontificate we have seen the demise of communism in the western world and the breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Important breakthroughs have been made in the area of ecumenism. Healing has taken place, or at least been initiated between our church and the Jews, Eastern Catholics, Muslims and other non-Christian religions.

On the other hand, John Paul II, while speaking frequently on the need for greater dialogue and openness has drawn a severe conservative line in matters pertaining to the role of women in the church, sexual mores, and Episcopal collegiality. While remonstrating against the great evil of child sexual abuse among the clergy, he simultaneously stopped at holding the bishops accountable and removing or replacing them for their culpability in maintaining silence and covering up the heinous actions of the clergy under their jurisdiction.

The legacy of his papacy will be long remembered for the paradoxes it presents.

We are saddened at the loss of this vibrant and vigorous man who faced his pontificacy daily with the full force of his personality and was constant and unswerving in his efforts to preach and practice what he believed. We wish he had done more in apologizing to the survivors of clerical abuse.

Now we wait as this conclave is assembled to elect his successor. Among the prelates named as the most likely successors to the throne of Peter we see a wide spectrum of personal ideologies with no identifiable most likely candidate in the forefront.

Historically, the process is predictably unpredictable. The Spirit moves in strange ways and we can only trust that the Spirit will guide the cardinals in their deliberations to the end that their choice will be the best choice to face the problems of our times and the most capable to accomplish the mission of the church in the 21st century. This is the test of our faith – that God is in God’s heaven, watching over and guiding God’s church and keeping us from wandering into error. Not all of our prayers will be answered at one time. But inexorably the church will move forward to prepare the world for the kingdom of Christ as we have been promised and as we hold to be true.

Patience ranks quite high among the least desirable of my personality traits, but patient I must be as God is patient with me.

I try to remind myself frequently that what I must do is pray as though everything depends upon God, and act as though everything depends upon me.

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad.