By LEONARDO BOFF*

Can a mortal and sinful human being like everyone else carry all the attributes that, in truth, belong only to God?

1.

We live in a whirlwind of conflicts and threats unlike anything we have ever seen in human history. Two scandalous facts fill us with indignation and shame: the open-air genocide that continues in the fierce war that Benjamin Netanyahu is waging against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. This crime against humanity is being perpetrated by a coalition of forces whose roots lie in Christianity: the European Community, a former Catholic president, Joe Biden, and another who also presents himself as a Catholic, of the most perverse kind, Donald Trump. Future history textbooks (if there is still history) will be relentless in their response to this unspeakable cruelty.

The other fact, we don't know if it is more ridiculous than a bad joke, or if it is a true statement: Donald Trump proclaims himself president-elect of the United States and of the world, I repeat, president of the world. We have the impression that we are in the times of the decadence of the Roman emperors, most of whom were insane, and were capable of such nonsense.

Donald Trump is waging a war against all of humanity, as he has broken with everyone, friends and enemies alike, and wants to impose himself as the master of the world, without any chance of winning, as humanity is wise and will know how to defend itself from such arrogance.

2.

I mention these sinister events because we are in the context of a Conclave of Cardinals, gathered to choose the successor of Pope Francis. Let us not be naive: inside, locked away, despite the mysterious presence of the Holy Spirit, conflicts also emerge. In a way, they are natural, because the Catholic Church as a religious institution is organized not around the book of the Gospels, but around the sacred powers (of sacred power).

Since the 331rd century, the central category that has shaped the ecclesiastical institutionality has been power, inherited from the Roman emperors. And this continues to this day, to the point that the small Vatican State is the only surviving absolute monarchy. See what canon law says about the head of the Church, in canon XNUMX: “The pastor of the universal church (the Pope) has ordinary, supreme, full, immediate and universal power in the Church.” This power is later increased by the characteristic of the Pope being infallible in matters of doctrine and morals. Can a mortal and sinful human being like everyone else carry all these attributes that, in truth, belong only to God?

Those who are guided by power – regardless of its qualification, whether political, economic or religious – follow the logic so well formulated by the great theorist of power, Thomas Hobbes: “I note, as a general tendency of all men, a perpetual and restless desire of power and of more power, which ceases only with death. The reason for this lies not in any more intense pleasure than is expected, but in the fact that power cannot be secured except by seeking still more power.”

I note: all of this has nothing to do with Pope Francis, who in his first speech clearly said that he would lead the Church not by canon law (canon 331) but by love and the gospel.

The theme of power also reverberates in the Conclave. There are ultraconservatives such as Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea, Cardinal Leo Burke of the USA and Cardinal Gerhad Müller of Germany who advocate an extremely conservative Church, a veritable cistern of dead water. They are against all the official reforms that have already been made.

There are a good number of conservatives who are committed to maintaining the structures of the Church as they are, with the marginalization of women and the obedience of other Christians. They would like to return to the Latin Mass and the priest with his back to the people.

To everyone's surprise, there is still a conspiratorial organization Red Hat Report financed by conservative American Catholics, by tycoons linked to Donald Trump and the ultraconservative Steve Bennan, using the services of the CIA and the FBI to gather data on the private lives of progressive Cardinals, with the intention of manipulating them and corrupting the Conclave. Their interest is to avoid the election of a progressive Pope, who would be uncomfortable with the government's orientation, and to prefer a conservative who would be in tune with the authoritarian policies of the current administration.

3.

And there is a whole range of orientations: some cardinals are more progressive in the sense of moving with the modern world, others are progressive but critical of modernity for fear of contaminating the faithful with thoughts that are not aligned with official Christianity. There are others who are frankly Franciscans who opt for the poor, defend a more flexible morality with regard to the divorced, who welcome people with other sexual orientations, and are open to dialogue with everyone, as Pope Francis did. There is a bit of everything.

How will the cardinals from so many distant countries and with different cultures get to know each other? In the first week of the Conclave, the internal problems of the Church and the world are discussed: identifying the most relevant challenges and raising the fundamental question: which of the cardinals would be best suited to take on this enormous task?

There is Cardinal Tagle of Manila, who is completely in line with Pope Francis for a poor Church and especially for the poor. There is Cardinal Zuppi of Bologna, who lives in a Christian community, rides his bicycle to the palace and who clearly defends all those marginalized in society and advocates a Church for everyone without any discrimination. There is Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Head of State and a close friend of Pope Francis, who is somewhat conservative in doctrine but totally open to a Church that is up to the challenges of the new planetary phase.

Where will the choice of so many Cardinals with so many theological and pastoral lines lead? No one can know. However, the hypothesis is known: when a certain consensus is not reached even among the “eligible“We are looking for someone more discreet, capable of dialoguing with the various parties, able to create a consensus. I suggest the name of the Cardinal of Manaus Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, a Franciscan and relative of Cardinal Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns. He has extensive world experience, is fluent in Portuguese, Italian and German, and enjoys a solid theological-spiritual formation.

And most decisively: he is the only Cardinal from the immense Amazon biome. The Amazon, due to the ecological outcry and global warming, will surely be one of the central themes in the debates between the Cardinals. Cardinal Leonardo was known for defending indigenous peoples, riverside dwellers and forest peoples, and was harsh against former President Jair Bolsonaro for letting so many die from Covid-19, especially by leaving hospitals without oxygen.

By temperament he is serene and tender, and his gaze is profound on people, especially those who suffer the most. Who knows, perhaps he will be the consensus figure? If so, I would not be surprised if he took on the following name: Pope Francis II. May the Spirit blow in this direction and rest upon this Cardinal.

*Leonardo Boff is an ecologist, philosopher and writer. Author, among other books, of Caring for our common home: clues to delay the end of the world (Vozes). [https://amzn.to/3zR83dw]

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