So March has
begun and with it the preparations for the Conclave that will elect the
successor to Benedict XVI. In many ways we are living in an empty space between
the conclusion of the years of one pontiff and the emergence of another to
occupy the See of Rome. Usually it is the time of a funeral, when with due
ceremony, the Church buries the Pope who has died before turning to the task of
choosing another.
This time it
is different, very different, for Benedict was taken by helicopter to Castel Gandolfo
overlooking Lake
Albino, into his time of retirement, leaving those in Rome
to pick up the pieces and move on. Those final days of this
pontificate were choreographed with care, but it was hastily made up as we went
along. We have experienced a seminal change and future years will be referenced
to these momentous days of February and March.
How much do
we need a light in the darkness! These could be, should be, transformative days
for the Church. The days of a centralised structure must surely be numbered as
the need for a real collegiality becomes self-evident.
In the wake
of all this noise, people are feeling confused and exasperated. The background
scenery that has been our experience over many years is shifting and it is not
yet apparent what will replace it.
There always
has been a degree of disagreement within the church; that is the nature of a
human community striving after an ideal. I remember many years ago complaining
to a Dominican friend about some petty squabble in our parish. He smiled and
told me “ Chris, it was ever thus
in
Corinth
”. But what we now face is more than a little local
difficulty. We are in a time of Reformation not seen in
Europe
since the tragic times of the sixteenth Century.
Moving
through these days of March, the need for a light in the darkness is
self-evident. The picture at the head of this piece is of a solitary candle
placed under the altar in our small parish church. Even one candle can create a
great blaze. It is that candle the Church now needs. It is then up to all of us
to light our own candles within our Communities, and continue our pilgrim
journey in confidence and hope.
