A Pope Pastore, who puts the missionary and evangelizing fatigue of the Church in the foreground in continuity with Pope Francis, is committed to peace and dialogue with other faiths, be a point of reference and horizon to which he looks at all contemporary society and not only the Catholic world in a dramatic historical situation, Characterized by wars, fragmentation, new poverty, drama of migrants. A pope who carries on the synodalityunderstood as a method to make the Church dialogue with the contemporary age, lots against financial scandals and sexual abuse.
This is, in essence, the identikit of the new pope that emerged in the twelve general congregations of the cardinals to prepare the conclave that will have to elect the successor of Pope Francis and 267th successor of Peter. The purple, as the Vatican press room explained, indicated the need for “a figure that is present, close, capable of acting as a bridge and guidance, of promoting access to communion to a disoriented humanity and marked by the crisis of the world order. A shepherd close to the concrete life of people».
The College of the purple then reiterated “the commitment and responsibility in supporting the new Pope, called to be a true shepherd, a guide who knows how to go beyond the boundaries of the Catholic Church alone, promoting the dialogue and construction of relations with other religious and cultural worlds”.
A varied contribution that of the cardinals, voters and no, also the result of the “geography” of this conclave that really embraces all the corners of the world and what Francis called “geographical and existential suburbs”. In meetings there has been talk several times of evangelization, with insistence “On the necessary consistency between the announcement of the Gospel and the concrete testimony of Christian life». More interventions have highlighted “the urgency of communicating the Gospel effectively at all levels of ecclesial life, From the parishes to the Curia, remembering that the testimony of mutual love is the first announcement, as the Gospel recalls». The duplicate task of the Church is “to live and testify communion within it, and promote fraternity in the world”. Remarked «The missionary nature of the Church: that must not be folded up on herself, but accompany every man and every woman towards the living experience of the mystery of God». Several times it has been said that the Church must not be, or appear, self -referential and the value of synodality has been recalled, in synergy with episcopal collegiality, “as an expression of differentiated co -responsibility”. The path of the Synod is “concrete expression of an accelesis of communion, in which everyone is called to participate, listen and discern together”.
There was no lack of references to Jubilee And “to the desire that the next Pope has a prophetic spirit, capable of guiding a church that does not close in itself, but knows how to go out and bring light to a world marked by despair”. In short, we are aware “of the risk that the Church will become self -referential and lose its relevance if it does not live in the world and with the world “.
The economic and financial situation of the Holy See was discussed, for example, in the seventh congregation. The German cardinal Marx, coordinator of the Council for the economy, has placed the emphasis on the deficit (there is talk of over 70 million euros, but the figures are not official), presenting a framework of Challenges and critical issues, with proposals “oriented to sustainability”, and reaffirming “the importance that economic structures continue to stand permanently the mission of the papacy». Other interventions by Cardinal Camerlengo Farrell on the activity of the investment committee, Cardinal Schoenborn on Ior, Vergez on renovation works of Vatican State buildings, and Cardinal Krajewski on the commitment of the apostolic length, the “operational arm” of the pope’s charity.
The debate also entered The scandal of the sexual abuse of the clergy defined as a “counter-thestimony” And to be faced “as a wound to be maintained open, so that the awareness of the problem remains alive and concrete paths can be identified for its healing”. The node of the priestly and religious vocations, put “in relation to the spiritual and pastoral renewal of the Church”.
The cardinals also expressed great “suffering” and “concern” for the “Polarization within the Church” and the “divisions in society”. Among the challenges indicated, “The care of creation, war, fragmentation of the world”, “the service of the Church and the pontiff to the cause of peace”. On the wars in progress, touching the tones “marked by the direct testimony of cardinals from regions affected by conflicts” who have intervened these days.
The cardinals also discussed the phenomenon ofimmigration, underlining that migrants are “a gift for the Church, but also underlining the urgency to accompany them and support their faith in the contexts of mobility and change”. Highlight “the fundamental role of Caritas, called not only to help, but to defend the poor, testifying to the justice of the Gospel”.
Finally, “with gratitude” was remembered Magisterium of Pope Francis and the processes started under his pontificate, “underlining the responsibility of continuing and guarding them”. Evangelization was “the heart of the pontificate”: “a fraternal and evangelizing communion church, capable of speaking above all to the new generations». It was that the touching prayer was remembered during the pandemic, “an open door of hope in the time of fear”.
In particular, in the last general congregation, that of Tuesday morning, on the eve of the Conclave, Cardinals, faced, among other themes, the reforms of Pope Francis who need to be carried out. Among these, the abuse legislation, the economy, the reform of the curia, the synodality, the theme of peace and the care of creation. The interventions on Tuesday morning, as reported by the director of the press room Matteo Bruni, were 26. They were present at the 173 cardinal meeting of which 130 voters. At the center of the comparison the documents of Bergoglio: the encyclical Laudato yes and the All brothers. “The theme of ecclesial communion”, the need for “a Pope who is Pontiff, a manufacturer of bridges”, of the “face of a Samaritan Church”, was therefore addressed. “In times of war and polarizations”, a pontificate is necessary in the name of “mercy, synodality, hope”. There was also talk of the Day of the poorestablished by Francesco, of the need for meetings of the Cardinal College, and of the Christian initiation. At the center also “the memory of the martyrs of faith, especially in the countries of conflict and where there are limits to religious freedom”. Bruni also reported that it was underlined “the urgent theme of climate change, placed above all by cardinals from lands particularly affected by the phenomenon».
Finally, in consideration of the anniversary of the Council of Niceathere was talk of the date of Easter and ecumenical dialogue. Pope Francis had repeatedly hoped for the celebration of Easter in a single date for Catholics and Orthodox, the last time on 25 January at the end of the week of prayer for the unity of Christians.
