If you were watching the TV evening news on Easter Sunday you saw the videos from Rome. Pope Francis, assisted in a wheelchair, was taken to a balcony at the Vatican to extend Easter greetings to the faithful; the Vicar’s words were spoken by one of the priests in attendance. Those images were followed by a scene where the Pope weakly waved to the people in St. Peter’s Square as he rode in the Popemobile. We woke the following morning to learn that he passed away during the night.
The modest way he led his life carried over to how Francis conducted himself on the world stage. He was not afraid to speak truth to power when he commented on the tragedies of war, other violence, and injustices against humanity. He opened up the Church’s doors for rational discussions about matters that his predecessors avoided including LGBTQ issues; not enough for some, too far for others. The Catholic Church is a 2,000-year-old institution that moves very slowly. He got the dialogue started with a simple but profound statement: “who am I to judge?”
Pope Francis’ funeral was held this past weekend and the Church now shifts its attention to who the next pope will be. The Conclave will begin on May 7. While there will be divine guidance for those who will make the selection, the members of the College of Cardinals are only human, operating of their own free will.
This blog is entitled Politics and Other Stuff and what we are about to observe happening in Rome has a holy objective. But that is not to say that, Church rules to the contrary, there will not be some politics and other stuff occurring.
The New York Times recently ran a story about some of the prospective candidates for the papacy, listing seven potential pontiffs. That is the same number of candidates running for Mayor of Buffalo this year, and just slightly less than the size of the candidate field in New York City’s mayoral race. Just like those upcoming elections, there are factions involved, both geographically and ideologically.
As an aside, there are even betting odds on the various papal candidates. Things don’t seem to have gravitated to FanDuel or DraftKings yet. A popular choice might be an Italian, Cardinal Pizzaballa.
The electorate for the papal decision breaks down geographically like this:
- From Europe: 45.2 percent
- Asia: 14.7 percent
- North America: 14.3 percent
- South America: 12.7 percent
- Africa: 11.5 percent
- Oceania: 1.6 percent
Here is a breakdown of which Pope appointed the current College of Cardinals:
- Francis: 149 Cardinals
- Benedict XVI: 62 Cardinals
- John Paul II: 41 Cardinals
Only Cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote. The largest block of the 135 who are eligible were appointed by Pope Francis.
(For comparison’s sake I refer you to a breakdown of the Buffalo mayoral candidates’ geography and politics that was published by this blog several months ago.) The money, bases of support, and voter turnout history that will impact the Buffalo mayoral election | Politics and Other Stuff
I am not for a moment disrespecting the honorable motives of the College of Cardinals who carry the weight of an extremely important decision on their shoulders as they gather to select Pope Francis’ successor. But they are all men who have all developed from their own personal experiences, connections, and philosophies about how the worldwide Church should function. They will bring those personal resumes into the Sistine Chapel where the decision will be made.
The Diocese of Buffalo
The Diocese of Buffalo has reportedly reached a potential settlement for the victims of clerical abuse. The dollar amount is $150 million. This does not necessarily resolve the issues, with further legal proceedings on deck. The Church hid and denied the problems for many years with little thought that a day of reckoning would be coming.
The leadership of the Diocese is looking toward its own assets, its insurance coverages, and the resources of its parishes to pay for those past mistakes, regardless of what role the parishes played or did not play in the mismanagement. Representatives of the Diocese have to a certain extent admitted that the planned closing of some parishes may have been determined by the potential re-sale value of the properties.
Some parishes are not buying into the Diocese’s plans to close and merge dozens of parishes. At least twelve parishes are appealing to the Congregation of the Clergy at the Vatican to allow them to keep functioning.
Craig Speers, who has been active in the efforts of parishioners at St. Michael’s in Buffalo and is familiar with work at other parishes, tells me:
“The [Road to Renewal] continues to use invalid and illegal grounds to close these parishes, including lack of priests and alleged diocesan financial troubles. None of these constitute valid grounds for extinguishing parish communities of the faithful or closing schools. These reprehensible actions by RTR are designed to raid parish treasuries and to sell off their real property assets… Luckily the Save Our Buffalo Churches group has been instrumental in guidance for parish communities of the faithful appealing the orders of the diocese. This entire RTR effort has been no more than a smoke screen to hide the moral collapse of the diocese. It’s sad, but the efforts of these heroic faithful Catholics will continue none the less.”
Greg Gach
Greg Gach passed away last week after a brief illness at the age of 71. Greg was the complete expert on Erie County government. At various times in his nearly 40-year career with the county he held positions in the Finance Department, the County Legislature, Erie Community College, and the Comptroller’s Office. He spent the most years and his work had the greatest impact during his 19 years in the Budget Division, first as First Deputy and then as Director. As budget director I worked directly with him for three years.
Greg’s knowledge of every budget account, every law and regulation affecting the county, and every player in county government made him an extraordinarily qualified public servant. Rest in peace, Greg.
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