Over 3 Billion Served

I guess I can’t avoid talking about what is happening lately in the Catholic Church. I probably should avoid it, but I’m just not that bright.

For the first time since the fifteenth century, a pope has made the decision himself to leave the job, instead of letting God handle it. That takes quite an impressive will to know what the right thing to do is and then to do it. Most of us can recognize the right thing but rarely will we make a decision that might affect us in a negative way. How many people have you seen that are far too old to be driving or living alone? That is just not the human way. For the first time, I am starting to believe that the pope might just be touched by heaven.

Over a billion people are or will soon be without someone at the head of their church. I don’t imagine it will fall apart because even if the pope had been a young and vibrant work-a-holic, there is only so much one person can do. No, there will still be the thousands of people in charge of the day to day running of the holy church. I think everything will be business as usual until the conclave of cardinals selects a new pope. It is said that a Canadian Cardinal Ouellet will be in the running for the top post.

Wow, a Canadian Pope. I can just see Cardinal Ouellet holding a pancake breakfast in Saint Peters Square with paper plates loaded with flapjacks and poutine. Maybe a hockey game if there is time to flood a rink. It seems that the conclave has taken a page out of the reality TV book and put an arbitrary timeline on the selection process. They want a Pope in place by Easter from what I understand. I am sure whoever they select will be more than qualified and hopefully will be able to give the billion plus Catholics a solid foundation for their faith.

I was talking to a friend last year about what will happen when the Dalai Lama passes on. Traditionally a search for the reincarnated spirit of the Dalai Lama is held and eventually the child that the soul has chosen is found and then groomed to be a spiritual leader. The current Dalai Lama is the 14^th and has said that the institution of Dalai Lama may be abolished in the future and may be found outside of Tibet and even be a woman. The Chinese government claim that they and they alone can select the new Dalai Lama. I don’t think holiness relies on who has the biggest stick or who some power hungry politician likes.  Big changes are coming and I hope that I live long enough to see how things turn out.

This time of the planet is supposed to herald great changes and from what seems to be unfolding religiously, I am starting to believe it. Maybe this is what the Mayans attempted to predict. Perhaps we are about to enter a religious golden age. I know that I feel a glow about myself lately and although it is unlikely to happen, I kind of think that the world could do worse than Pope Kenneth Gyatso I, spiritual leader of Catholics, Christians and Buddhists.

Over 3 billion served…