White Smoke

The world watches and waits for the next head of the Roman Catholic Church to be elected by the 115 Cardinals, who are locked away in their conclave in the Sistine Chapel, and voting until they get a 2/3rds majority for the one man who will lead them into the next phase of their church life. This could take a few days, or weeks, or even months as they settle on a clear winner.

The news programs who report on this momentous occasion talk in terms of the secular world. I hear words like, ‘who will vote with whom?’, and ‘ will some nations vote in block?’, and ‘Is it time for a change to a non European Pope?’ and even, ‘Will there be bad feelings between Cardinals if they don’t get their own way?’. I am sorry, but it looks and sounds like the reporting we get for the Eurovision Song Contest! Where is God in the process? The appointment of the most powerful man in the largest church in the world, is elected on a secular basis, or that is how it is reported. If the Pope is God’s man, then shouldn’t God have a say?

Ah, but hold on, it isn’t just the Roman Catholic Church who seems to have stopped using the divine wisdom of God in their deliberations, the mainstream Protestant churches do it too. When was the last time you heard the words from your minister or pastor when he or she came to lead your flock, ‘God called me here?’ We are subject to the same things, like elections, whether by the whole church or by an elected group of representatives. When a minister or pastor moves on, we hear words like, ‘I feel my ministry has finished here’, or ‘I want to be closer to my family who are in another place’, or worse still they are voted out of their church of choice.

Having said all that, I do believe that God still works and speaks through His people. If that means a voting process in an imperfect church, of whatever religious denomination, including puffs of white smoke, so be it. After all, does God have another way to work in His world, including His church, except through us, who are called by His name? If so, then please share your thoughts.