Complete with scary lion.
Pray for them.
Bishop of Menevia, Tom Burns wants a new freedom to discuss “currently prohibited” issues including contraception and the remarriage of divorced people.
He further suggests that the cardinals should look beyond their number to choose a successor to Benedict XVI.
The former Royal Navy chaplain writes: “If the cardinals have to look outside their own group, so be it. The last time was in 1378.
“The scene is set for yet another precedent.”
Among the radical changes he has proposed in the Catholic journal the Tablet, he calls for church government to be “stripped of status and elitism” and suggests “a root-and-branch review of the method of appointing bishops” and a third Vatican council.
He expects the internet to shape the decisions of the papal conclave, writing that “electors can probably not avoid being swayed by Twitter, Facebook, and blogs”.
In his article the bishop applauds the former Pope’s 2010 visit to Britain in which there “not a word out of place” but writes that “views emerging from the Vatican on homosexuality as ‘disordered’, appeared excessive, lacking Benedict’s usual distinctions.”
He continues: “He renewed the Church’s historical opposition to women priests, methods of stem-cell research, and enlightened thinking by liberal theologians.”
The bishop then lays out a vision for sweeping change, writing: “Whoever is elected, the time has come to re-open the doors and windows for a new blowing of the Spirit, even a Third Vatican Council, a freedom to discuss key ministerial concerns, freedom of research for ways ahead on key issues affecting marriage (eg the implications of re-marrying after divorce); re-examining ethical questions (eg just war theory, the sale of arms, acceptable intentions and methods of birth control, integrity in public and financial affairs); Church governance (eg developing a simpler and humbler servant Church model, less hierarchical and more collegial, stripped of status and elitism); promoting Vatican II’s principle of subsidiarity (eg through de-centralisation and greater transparency); improving relations between the Holy See and dioceses (eg a root-and-branch review of the method of appointing bishops); and bringing into the College of Cardinals a wider representation (eg of views, experience, traditions to be set and handed on into the future).”
The Welsh bishop argues that the former Pope should not be held personally responsible for the child abuse scandals, writing: “In the minefield of child sexual abuse, the blame attached to him was really unmerited, and his humble and heartfelt apologies were genuinely appreciated by many. It is not Benedict, but the priests convicted of such crimes, who have reduced the Church’s influence and doctrinal credibility.”
Praising Benedict’s decision to retire rather than die in the post, he writes: “In his last days in office, Benedict unwittingly showed a further dimension of his humility and selflessness, by opening the door to future popes to lay down their office freely, yet still respond to God’s call to contemplative prayer.”
He urges the conclave to “ open all doors and considerations,” adding: “The Spirit’s influence is needed to free the cardinal electors of considerations involving electoral blocs – nationalistic, geographical, conceptual, ageist – and there is no place for self-interest, ambition, or career benefits at lower levels.”
Stressing the personal strengths of the individual to take the helm of the church, he states: “Whoever is chosen has to be the right man in the right place at the right time, someone who can bring about much needed change and take others with him because his reputation is untainted and his future will not be enmeshed or smothered by Church bureaucracy, politics, and loneliness.”
He concludes with a final plea for change: “Let the new wine fill new wine skins.”
