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Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
This English-born 20th century conservative could be an inspiration for the next Pope
The only English-born pope was Adrian IV in the twelfth century. But another such candidate came close, in successive conclaves in 1903 and 1914, when it was effectively impossible for a non-Italian to be elected. Rafael Merry del Val was insuperably qualified by experience, character and a cosmopolitanism that made him almost emblematic of the universal aspirations of Catholicism. He was the most widely admired cardinal in the curia. He would have been a perfect pope for his times. His rational, discerning conservatism would also make him a model for the sort of pope we need now. His birth in London's Portman Square in October, 1865, was an accident of his Spanish father's diplomatic career, but Rafael absorbed Englishness along with the sporting ethos of his prep school in Bournemouth. When his first job in the Church took him to a chaplaincy for the poor in a Roman slum, he taught the boys cricket as well as catechism. He always dreamed in English and longed for an English parish, but his talents made him indispensable in Rome: mastery of music and languages; perfect recall of faces and conversations; a lively sense of mischief, tempered by tact; inexhaustible energy and efficiency; charisma and commanding presence, which every acquaintance found compelling. The wise and wily Leo XIII picked Rafael for an accelerated career. In 1887 he sent him to tender the pope's congratulations on Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, with the rank of a papal chamberlain and the title of a Monsignor – an almost unheard-of honour for a young man who was not yet a priest. I suspect that, although Leo had a reputation as a friend of the proletariat, he was also a bit of a snob, impressed by Rafael's aristocratic family and friends. Such connections helped. But Rafael rose by merit. When the pope died in 1903, after a pontificate so long that everyone had forgotten how to run a conclave, the cardinals picked Rafael to organise the election, even though, unlike predecessors, he was not Italian and not yet a cardinal. The outcome was the election of one of the simplest and saintliest of popes, Pius X, whom Rafael had to persuade to discard modesty and diffidence for pontificality. The new pope and young priest shared tastes in music and liturgy and exchanged profound respect and love. Pius made Rafael the youngest cardinal and Secretary of State to the Holy See – the best job in which to become papabile, because it gives a candidate a chance to get to know electors and to shine in the curia's most conspicuous role. The Secretaryship demands worldly competence. Rafael combined it with extraordinary sanctity. He dissipated his wealth in charity. He did most of his good works, stringent mortifications and sacrificial self-denials secretly: their scale only became known after his death. Even his faults seemed holy: the exasperating length of his public prayers, his neglect of his possessions, his impenetrable spells of self-scrutiny. However busy with official duties, he never failed to return, every day, to his old slumland stomping-ground, to call on former pupils and their parents, say Mass, slip secret alms under needy doors and take part in the sports he organised and the plays and music he wrote. No one who sought his spiritual counsel was ever turned away. As a diplomat he had to do deals with secular governments, but as a priest he was unyielding with anyone who opposed or rejected Catholicism. He would have brought the same clarity to the papacy – the clarity the Church needs now in rejecting trends Rafael denounced in his day: moral relativism, blurred values, subversion of the family and the conversion of the Church to the ways of the world instead of the other way round. He encouraged beautiful, dignified liturgy, strict sexual disciplines, vocations to traditional married love and unremitting devotion to all the sacraments. He never became pope, but never pined for preferment. The litany he wrote makes a perfect prayer for anyone in a top job in Church and world alike: 'That others may be preferred to me, .... provided only that I may become as holy as I should – Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.' Felipe Fernandez-Armesto is a professor of history who has taught at Tufts, Queen Mary and Oxford Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Irish Times
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
The Irish disapora and its role in electing the successor to Pope Francis this week
Cardinal Seán Brady, who is 85, is Ireland's only voice at the College of Cardinals' continuing general congregation discussions, the 10th of which took place at the Vatican on Monday. But, as he is aged over 80, he will not be taking part in the conclave to elect a new pope, which begins on Wednesday afternoon. However, Ireland will not be without influence due to its diaspora. There is, of course, Drimnagh's Cardinal Kevin Farrell (77) , Camerlengo at the Vatican, but not on any list as a future pope. Yet some from the Irish diaspora are in the running. Archbishop of Johannesburg Cardinal Stephen Brislin (68) is so proud of his Irish and Scottish background he included a shamrock and thistle in his coat of arms as bishop and archbishop. Unusually for an African cardinal, he is on the more liberal wing of the Catholic church. Also talked about as a possible compromise, as in an 'all-fruit-fails' pope, is Cardinal Arthur Roche (75), one of three from England in the College of Cardinals; the others are cardinals Vincent Nichols and Timothy Radcliffe. READ MORE Cardinal Roche is a Yorkshire man with an Irish background and was formerly Bishop of Leeds before joining the Roman Curia in 2012. He was made cardinal by Pope Francis in 2022. If elected pope Cardinal Roche would be the first English pontiff since Adrian IV (Nicholas Breakspear). Pope from 1154 to 1159, Adrian IV is never to be forgotten in Ireland, as it was his 1155 Papal Bull, or decree, Laudabiliter, which 'gave Ireland as a hereditary possession to the illustrious king of the English, Henry II'. Perhaps Cardinal Roche as pope might consider a reverse decree? Of the US cardinals, the one spoken of most favourably as 'papabile' is Archbishop of Newark and Irish-American Cardinal Joseph Tobin (72), a member of the Redemptorist congregation. [ Watch: Vatican releases video showing preparations in Sistine Chapel ahead of papal conclave ] Very much of the Francis wing, he was part of the Vatican team sent to Ireland in 2010 to investigate the male religious orders following publication of the Ryan and Murphy reports in 2009. Somewhat more conservative is Irish-Canadian Cardinal Thomas Collins (78), former Archbishop of Toronto who might be too old for the papacy. He was also sent to Ireland in 2010 to investigate the Cashel archdiocese following publication of statutory abuse reports in 2009. It is believed unlikely an American will be elected pope as, generally speaking, the College of Cardinals steers clear – assisted by the Holy Spirit, of course – of electing someone from a major world power. It does not mean Americans themselves do not speculate, in hope more than confidence (unusually), about a pope emerging from their ranks. Two of their leading would-be contenders are Irish-Americans: Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan (75) and Cardinal Raymond Burke (76). Whatever slender hope Cardinal Dolan may have had might have been scuppered by Donald Trump who offered his support to Cardinal Dolan as pope. The cardinal led opening prayers at the US president's inauguration last January. Cardinal Dolan has been to Ireland many times, where he would be somewhat less than beloved. This has been particularly so since 2012 when it emerged that, following a report of his on the Irish College in Rome , three senior priests there were removed from their posts while a fourth resigned in protest. Ireland's Catholic archbishops at the time described Cardinal Dolan's report as the result of 'a deep prejudice' against the college. Cardinal Burke could have been described as leader of the less-than-loyal-opposition to Pope Francis. He too has been to Ireland many times, taking part in annual conferences at Fota, Co Cork. Deeply traditional with a fondness for the flamboyant vestments of the pre-Vatican II era, his chances of being elected pope are slim – such is the strength of his traditional views they could split the church.
Times
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Times
Times letters: Vatican reform and the search for a new pope
Write to letters@ Sir, Given that there has been only one English Pope, Adrian IV (Nicholas Breakspear), and that he served in the 12th century, is the time not right for a second? Cardinal Reginald Pole (the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury) was in the running for the papacy but was not elected in the 16th Timothy Radcliffe OP is the ideal candidate to follow in Pope Francis's footsteps. He has all the attributes necessary and his self-deprecating comment on Monday that the Holy Spirit would not be so foolish to lead the conclave to his election can only add to his credentials and eligibility ('Inside the conclave: the politics of choosing the next pontiff', Apr 23). We have just had
