Keys to the Kingdom

White Smoke Rising

With the tragic passing of Pope Francis, his legacy, the role of the Pope, and his potential successor are all simultaneously being discussed in both Catholic and non-Catholic circles.

It is no secret that he was a liberal Pope: his focus on immigrants, the poor, climate change, economic inequality, the negatives of capitalism, and elevating women’s role in the Church heavily differed from any of his predecessors.

For those who are too young to remember previous Popes or came to the faith recently, a more conservative Pope would likely focus on emphasizing papal authority, reverent liturgical practices like the TLM, the Church’s traditional stance on sexuality, marriage, and gender roles, and the negative societal impacts of abortion, birth control, and female “empowerment.”

While the idea of being a conservative or liberal Catholic doesn’t align perfectly with the corresponding secular ideologies, most would agree that the Church’s teachings align better with social conservatism and economic liberalism, perfectly juxtaposing the strangely popular maxim of being “socially liberal but fiscally conservative.”

This split between the social and economic spheres typically leads to the Catholic vote being roughly 55 to 60% conservative and 40 to 45% liberal, with those caring more about the Church’s stance on abortion, gay marriage, transgenderism, the family, and more voting conservatively, and those placing a larger emphasis on the moral duty of caring for the poor, wages that support families, and warning against greed and exploitation voting blue.

However, the caveat to this the Church teaching gets conveniently skipped over: subsidiarity—the idea that decision making, especially on the economic front, should be kept within the local sphere.

In other words, local governments, not the federal government, should be the authority over important decision making, given the effects of laws implemented can be felt by local leaders and not the distant political tyrants occupying DC.

This concept is undeniably a conservative view and in direct conflict with liberals’ incessant need to dole power to the central government in every aspect of our lives in the name of “justice and equality.”

For most Catholics, especially the young men who are overwhelmingly conservative, Pope Francis wasn’t necessarily their most ideal candidate. Most of these individuals will be pulling for cardinals like Robert Sarah, Raymond Burke, Willem Ejik, Péter Erdo, and others who want to bring the Church to its more traditional roots.

Now that the conclave to elect a new Pope will begin soon, it’s only right to dive into some notable moments from the storied history of the papacy.

And boy, are there some notable moments.

Cardinal Ercole Consalvi sums up the history of the Popes and the durability of the Church perfectly:

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE: I will destroy the Catholic Church once and for all!

CONSALVI: If the clergy [mainly the Popes] themselves have not succeeded in destroying the Church, how do you expect to do so?

Spoiler alert: Napoleon was indeed not able to pull it off.

Turning back the clock to the late 9th century, Pope Stephen VI had recently succeeded the deceased Pope Formosus.

The context is, unlike today, the Pope and the Church were often in the middle of worldly affairs and secular powers were oftentimes able to influence papal elections.

Formosus was in close connection with the Carolingian dynasty, especially Arnulf of Carinthia, a Germanic ruler who was eventually crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Formosus. Stephen VI, on the other hand, allied with the rival Spoletan faction.

Since Formosus made numerous appointments that provided the Spoletan faction immense power, Stephen VI needed to devise a plan to revoke these appointments and make his own.

Essentially, the only way for him to do this is to label the appointments as invalid because Formosus was a heretic in some manner.

What proceeded is known infamously as the Cadaver Synod: Stephen VI dug up the body of Formosus, dressed him in his papal uniform, and underwent a full trial.

After being found guilty of perjury, usurping the papacy, and holding multiple bishoprics simultaneously, all of Stephen VI’s papal acts became officially invalid.

He was denied the gift of being buried with the other Popes, so his three fingers used for blessing were cut off and his body was thrown into the Tiber River.

Miraculously, his body eventually washed up to the shore and was found by either a group of nuns or monks. Soon, in addition to the miracles attributed to healings from his relics, people’s opinions towards Stephen VI began to shift, as the miraculous nature of his body returning proved as vindication.

Soon, Pope Stephen VI eventually deposed, imprisoned, and strangled to death by a prisoner.

Tough way to go out.

Not too long after, Pope Benedict IX was elected in 1032 at the ripe age of roughly 20 years old.

His election was a scandalous one, as his influential family, the Counts of Tusculum, essentially purchased the papacy for him.

Despite excelling in theology and maintaining incredibly orthodox beliefs on paper, he lived an extremely degenerate and scandalous lifestyle. It wasn’t long before he was deposed and forced to vacate the seat after a revolt drove him out of Rome.

However, he didn’t let this mere obstacle get in his way of his ambitions.

After about a month passed, Benedict IX returned to Rome with military support, deposed his successor Sylvester III, and reclaimed the papacy.

One would think that, given the effort put in to reclaim his position, he would stay in his position of power as long has he could.

Wrong.

After about a year, he voluntarily resigned so that he could get married.

Arguably more interesting than the idiosyncratic stories of Popes not exactly being the representation of Christ they should be are the stories of how certain papal traditions came to be.

One particularly fascinating tradition is Popes taking on a new name.

Most would think the answer lies along the lines of the trend of Biblical characters like Abraham (Abram), Peter (Simon), and Israel (Jacob) being bestowed with a new name from God and having that moment serve as an inflection point for their lives.

However, this line of thinking, while logical, isn’t exactly accurate.

Pope John II was the first Pope to change his name simply because his birth name was Mercurius, a reference to the Roman god Mercury.

Out of respect for the one, true God, he decided that it would be best to change his name to John II as a tribute to John I, who was martyred.

Another papal tradition, specifically surrounding the election, is the conclave. The word itself comes from the Latin phrase cum clave, meaning with a key.

The idea of high-ranking officials being locked in a room and not leaving until electing a Pope was not exactly a brainchild of any Pope, the Church, or theologian; rather, it goes back to the situation that a group of cardinals happened to find themselves in numerous centuries ago.

In the mid 13th century, there was a drawn-out fight between French and Italian cardinals over who would be elected next.

Although the process began sometime in 1268, the cardinals still had no answer nearly three years later in 1271.

Eventually, the local citizens and secular rulers had enough.

When the cardinals were gathered in the Palace of the Popes in Viterbo, Italy, city magistrates locked the cardinals inside the palace and told them they weren’t coming out until a pope was chosen.

The group’s food ration was reduced and some accounts say the palace’s roof was removed to expose them to the (most likely) uncomfortable weather.

After this process, Pope Gregory X was elected and three years later in the Second Council of Lyon, the conclave system was formalized, with an emphasis on a restriction of food, communication, and comfort to maintain focus.

Coming back to the present day, we humbly ask the Lord to help guide the College of Cardinals towards the right choice.

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Thanks for reading and until next time.

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