Papal Conclave - 2007 The Vatican - Habemus Papam... Leo XIV!!!

[Gustaf]

Nay.

[Gustaf]

Fellow brothers of the faith, we stand today, as so often before, with tragedy behind us and the prospect of renewed joy in the service of God before us. Let us at this moment keep in mind that we are of the same faith and have a duty to God, to ourselves, to the Popes of the past and last, but not least, to the many troubled souls now waiting for our directions, to look for a path of unity and not allow regional or other conflicts over-shadow the great work we have before us, as one church.

[Gustaf]

Assuming one does not have to put in every detail in the vote and further following everyone else in ignoring Supersoulty's point about being allowed to vote for oneself: Bishop Santiago

[Gustaf]

Brothers, while I applaud Cardinal Frick for his devotion and thought-provoking question, I must beg to offer a different perspective. When I first became responsible, or rather recieved the honour of sharing the burden of responsibility, of my fellow human beings' spirits, in the small town of Accompong, I recieved many questions. The young girl who was pregnant with a child who's father she didn't know. The man who had tragically lost his family and his faith along with it. The young man who wanted to be a monk but was not sure he could handle the sacrifices involved. But not once during my five years did I recieve a question about the role of the sacraments. This is not intended, I wish to stress very clearly, to diminish the importance of such questions. They are important and need to be discussed. But it is the kind of questions that the laymen, rightly in my opinion, expect us to solve internally, so that we can meet them with the answers to their everyday problems.

Because, let me ask you this, brother Cardinals; while it may be a problem that the one billion Catholics of this world have differing opinions on the way to communicate with God, isn't is a bigger problem that there are billions of people who do not believe there is a God to communicate with? While we should of course try to convince Protestants and the various sects that exist to conform to the true Christianity, the majority of the world's inhabitants are not Christian at all. Of course we want people to believe in the right way, using the correct form. But there are those who do not believe at all, in any way whatsoever!

So, we should work hard on the various theological disputes, and I believe there are many great minds here today who will do their best in these areas. On the issue raised by Cardinal Frick, I myself mostly concur with the sentiments expressed by Cardinal Jergovic. But when we discuss what to do with the future of the Church I believe the moral imperative for us all must be to make sure that as many people as possible accept the word of God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, instead of turning to false prophets or empty materialism. And a Church soleley devoted to high-level theological disputes will not achieve that.

Thank you.

[Gustaf]

Same as before: Santiago

[Gustaf]

Count, count, count, count...er, I mean chant...religious hymns in a solemn way...

[Gustaf]

*Cardinal Lumbayo gets up in a somewhat solemn manner rather than with his typical burst of energy*

The Saint I most often look to with my prayers, whom I study and who inspires me is Saint Jerome, author of the Vulgate and one of the four Doctors of the Church. Jerome was a man of great learning, who gave up his worldly life to devote himself to studying the Bible. What he found hardest to give up were his Greek and Roman literature and only when Jesus came to him in a dream saying, "thou art a follower of Cicero and not of Christ" to which Jerome finally cried "Lord, if ever again I posess worldly books, or if ever again I read such, I have denied Thee."

Still, Jerome remembered much of what he had read and would retain many quotes from his memory in his writings even afterwards. When editing the Bible he went against the prejudices of his time, working with Jews to get to the original meaning of the holy texts, an enterprise which involved great risks for himself. He criticized his contemporaries for devoting themselves to personal gain and ignoring the plight of the poor. In his principled stand against injustice, his disdain for worldly pleasures and, most importantly, in his dedication in the pursuit of the true word of God, Saint Jerome stands out as one of the great figures in the history of our Church and our faith.

*Lumbayo pauses and smiles*

Now, some of you may be surprised that of all the Saints I picked Jerome. Was he not a very different man from myself? And that is indeed true. In many ways I resemble more Saint Ambrose who devoted himself to the Church's role in the world. But in my view there are two sides to being a man of faith and two sides to our Church. One is that of action; fighting against the injustices that go against our faith, advising and helping those of our fellows who struggle with their lives or their faiths. The other is that of reflection; inquiring, meditating, philosophizing and studying with the aim to increase our understanding of what God wants for us and direct the afore-mentioned actions in a precise way. In short, what gaurantees that we are not in our piety and love of God led astray from the path of righteousness.

While any Cardinal of the Church has a little bit of both many of us belong more to one category than the other, depending on our constitution and frame of mind. As you all know I myself am more of a man of action in this respect. That I wll readily admit; there are many here today that have greater knowledge than I. And Saint Jerome, for me, acts as a reminder of that fact, constantly prodding me and encouraging me to keep in mind that my own out-look is not the only one, but that the more reflective side of our work is every bit as important as the field work. When I pray to Saint Jerome I ask for the strength and time to learn more and know more and, above all, that he remind me to treat with humble respect those who in other ways than my own do tremendous work for the aims of God. We all strive to do our best for our Church and we would perhaps all be helped if we kept in mind that God created us with different abilities so that we may in our own way help advance mankind's spiritual well-being.

Thank you.

*Lumbayo slowly seats himself again*

[Gustaf]

Santiago, again

[Gustaf]

*Bertone stands up at the Conclave the next morning*

Bertone:  Brothers, I must ask.  What does the Papacy mean to each of you?  Who do you honestly believe is the right kind of man to sit in the thrown of people?  What is the most important thing that a Vicar of Christ can bring to the world?  What duties does the Bishop of Rome owe to his diocese?  Does he owe any, in the modern era?  And finally, do you thing the office makes the man, or is it the man who makes the office?

*glances at members of Italian delegation*

Thank you.

*sits down*

*Lumbayo jumps vigourously to his feet*

Brother Bertone, you ask several highly interesting questions. Let me answer them to the best of my capacity, in the order you asked them.

The Papacy to me means the human institution closest to God on this Earth. Thus, for those who toil and struggle in the shadows, far away from the grace and light of God, the Papacy is what should, must and will lift them up, out of that shadow and deliver them into the arms of Jesus. This is of course done in many different ways and one important aspect of it is the role of unifying the Church under one leadership, making all servants of God pull in the right direction. But one must never lose sight of this, the most fundamental duty of the Church; to spread the Gospel to all men.

I believe that there are many different kinds of men who can competently lead this Church. There is an expression which alludes to "the right man in the right place at the right time." Every situation has its own requirements and puts its own demands on a man, regardless of his position. If you ask me, what kind of man do I think is the right kind to sit in the throne of Christ in our current era, I will tell you that in my opinion he must be a man of action. The Church, while strong, is besieged by many troubles; the misery and poverty of the Third World and the increasing trend of secular atheism and materialism in the First are a couple who stand out. The leader of this Church must be prepared to battle these woes with firm leadership and fresh ideas, so that people will once again turn to us with hope and joy, eagerly asking for our guidance.

But you also ask what the most important thing is for a Pope. This is perhaps a different question. In my previous answer I was of course thinking of the members of this Conclave - men who have devoted their entire life to the service of God and who's loyalty and faith could never be swayed by special interests - be they political, economical or ethnical. But ina more general sense, the most important asset for a Vicar of Christ will always be his faith and his absolute dedication to it. To never lose sight of God in his work and tirelessly struggle so as to not be led astray, and so, by his example, inspire others to do the same, is the fundament of any man of the Church.

You also ask of the duties to the diocese. Of course, the Bishop of Rome must care for the souls of which he has direct responsibility. They have a right to that. I have enjoyed a life-time of spiritual service to the people and cannot put too much stress of the importance of those duties. At the same time, I cannot help the feeling that a never so good Bishop of Rome is also the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church, and as such has a duty to all people in the world and to God himself guide them towards salvation.

Finally, does the man make the office or the does the office make the man, you ask. My answer is neither. It is to me like asking does the trunk make the tree or the tree the trunk. Neither can be imagined without the other and both depend on the other for its existence. The man can change the office in certain ways, but of course the man will not remain unchanged by the office either. I know how much it meant to me when I first started out in the Church. I remember what it was like to become a Bishop. Attaining a position created by God in which one has to assume the highest of all duties will of course affect a man in a way I think only one who has held the post can thoroughly understand.

I would say that we must always remember that while no man is larger than the office, that office could not exist without a devoted and courageous keeper. Many forget one of those two facts at times and I pray with all my heart that this will not happen here and now.

[Gustaf]

I too must concur with Cardinal Cruijiff. There is need for the Church to pose itself so as to be able to take on a fast-changing world in the right way. However, I'd also like to see this as an excellent opportunity.

[Gustaf]

Tagola, again.

[Gustaf]

*Lumbayo rises*

Cardinal Shah, while I understand you asking such a question and am able to sense some concern in it, I must stress that the whole purpose of such a convent would be to decide what changes should be made. I would consider it very unwise, not just for someone with the intention of becoming Pope, but indeed for any of us to decide on their own accord,before the coucil itself and without consulting their fellow brothers of the Church what should and what should not be done. However, there are general outlines of what must be done that can already be appreciated. Among those changes necessary would be, in my opinion, to add a more practical education to the theological knowledge. A good shepherd must know his sheep well and understand their problems thoroughly. Reforms in such a direction would be one of my prioritiesin a convent, because there is need for it, if the Church is not to continue to lose touch with the Catholics of the world. Furthermore, continued theological disocurse could well need to changes now difficult to foresee.

*Lumbayo sits downagain*

[Gustaf]

Tagola

[Gustaf]

Shouldn't there be 9 votes for Miller, if he's getting Sing's vote?

You also have Medina listed as a vote for me in the "regional" column but as a vote for Ribeiro in the parentheses in the beginning...*cough*go with me, go with me*cough*

[Gustaf]

Brothers,

Cardinal Cruijif speaks well on this issue and I find that his words are quite convincing. I also, however, find that they are words which I have heard before. I have no doubt about the sincerity of Brother Cruijiff's committment, but I am not convinced that he can fully appreciate what these injustices that he speak of entail. I must also take issue with my Brother's assertion that we cannot do and act, but must only speak of these matters. Again, I fear that this may be the perspective of someone who, working within the Vatican rather than out of it, is used more to talking than to acting. There is much I believe, that a servant of God, not only can do, but must do in the face of injustice, something I, and I think most others present here, have experienced many times. But let me applaud Cardinal Cruijiff's concern for us in the poorer parts of the world, which is of course greatly appreciated, and at the same time assure him that we are ourselves not going to idly await help, but aim to improve our situation under the guidance of God. Thank you Brothers.

[Gustaf]

Lumbayo

[Gustaf]

 you SOulty!

Just kidding...I'll take it as a man.

[Gustaf]

Congratulations Jtf. I suppose we don't get to see the final tally? Though I get the feeling that it was mostly my and Antonioni's voters jumping ship and Jas's to an extent keeping with him?