Cardinals do not know to whom to pray, so go to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in order to elect the next pope because a master, Michelangelo, defined it for them. Perhaps it shows all the Christians think that there is birth, death, and many stories in between. Perhaps a deity.
I have never been Catholic. Yes, I was baptised, and had my holy communion. I had questions about the church early on. I didn’t know about other religions yet or about how to question faith or the existence of God.
Today in the background the Sistine Chapel is about to close for conclave and I am in tears, because this is a venerable exercise where every eligible cardinal swears to be true to the new pope. In my sarcasm, I wonder why they deny Cardinals over age 80 to vote but still be in their current posts.
I must give thanks to my favorite fathers of the Roman Catholic Church, who guided me through college, both Franciscans: Fr. John (deceased) and Fr. Cap.
A nun told me at age six that because my mother had the flu and didn’t drive us to church I was doomed to hell (a mortal, not venial sin). Imagine telling that to a little kid. I went to public school, because it was a small village and the public school was better. We still had to walk to church school once a week and go to Mass on Sundays. Now I have to thank neighbor Gil.
Then, through a twist of fate I went to a liberal arts college that turned out to be Franciscan and I started to go to church again, occasionally, and even started to go downtown to the one of the last Latin masses in our town.
The last Cardinals are taking the oath now and one is from my new town, never knew we had a Cardinal here.
I have a prayer: May this unprecedented incident of the Pope’s resignation and his continued existence not influence or undermine this Conclave; May a worthy person take this seat; May the serious flaws in judgment and management, especially of sexual abuse, be remedied in all ways possible; and may the Church finally recognize the role of women as Priests and more reproductive freedom for faithful Catholics.
Yes, I’ve thought a lot about God and religion over many years and find they have little to do with each other. Certain aspects of this election do intrigue me, however, because that’s how I grew up. The priest would not allow my parents to marry (my father was a Lutheran) until he relinquished religious care to my mother.
It’s interesting that the talking heads say this sounds “political” but it cannot be because it’s somewhat “godly” because everything is politics, everywhere. Even you work at a convenience store, it’s all politics. In nominus patri, Dee
