Praying for God's Will

By Clare Lazzuri
Special to the Herald
(From the issue of 3/3/05)

Pope John Paul II has been rushed to the hospital again ... The Pope is having trouble breathing ... The almost-85-year-old pontiff has undergone emergency surgery ... The leader of the Catholic Church cannot speak. And the list of exaggerated, alarmist media reports of the Pope’s latest hospitalization goes on, and on.

While it’s nice to see the media paying attention to the Pope, the latest rash of over-the-top reporting on the health of Pope John Paul II hardly serves any great purpose. And, of course, in the lengthier reports where "experts" are called upon to decipher the existential meaning of this latest bout with the flu, there is guaranteed discussion of the possibility of the Pope retiring, not that he’s ever said he would.

Recently, well-known American commentator, Catholic and usual defender of the Church William F. Buckley, Jr., wrote that while Catholics around him were praying for the Pope’s recovery, he would not. On the contrary, said Buckley, he would pray for the Pope’s cessation of suffering through death. While original in his comments, Buckley’s argument were not necessarily wise and involved a lot of speculation on the Pope’s motives for continuing to govern the Church while in a "crippled" state. More likely than not, what Buckley succeeded in doing through this piece was give fuel to the "Pope-must-go" fire, rather than inspire any appreciation or respect for the role of the Vicar of Christ.

While it is true that according to Canon law a pope can retire, there is no need to expect any pope to retire, least of all Pope John Paul II. As John Allen Jr., Vatican correspondent for the American National Catholic Reporter, pointed out in a syndicated column just a few days before the Pope’s second hospitalization, being Pope is not just a job, it is an identity that cannot be shrugged off with retirement. The Pope can trace his lineage through the papal line, right back to St. Peter and subsequently to Christ. Karol Wojtyla did not apply and get interviewed for the position of pope. Rather, he was chosen, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to lead the Church of Christ and there was no time limit placed on his office.

It has been noted by many that watching a frail old man lead the Catholic Church can be a lesson in how we perceive the elderly, the infirm, the handicapped, the weak. More and more, we live in a society that seeks to discard its weakest members, including the ones we can’t see (as in abortion), and the ones we can (as with euthanasia).

The latest flurry of activity surrounding the Pope’s health coincided with the latest turn of events for Terry Schiavo, the Florida woman who requires nothing more than loving care and a feeding tube to live but was scheduled to have that feeding tube removed, at the request of her husband, on Feb. 25. She has been granted a three-week reprieve, during which time her parents will once more try to convince the courts that their daughter’s life means something, if to no one else other than them.

Both Schiavo’s plight (and the countless others like her), and the health of the Pope should serve as a wake-up call that none of us are qualified to judge when life begins and when life ends, or for that matter, when a pontificate begins and when it ends. Just like life, the papacy is a treasure held gingerly in the hands of God, who is the only One who knows the beginning and the end. Speculation about the Pope’s lifespan or the possibility of retirement, or attempting to have a human being’s only source of nutrition removed, are nothing less than insults to the Author of Life.

A few days before his latest hospitalization, Pope John Paul II released a message on the question of "quality of life." Addressing the recent general assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Pope noted that "so-called quality of life is interpreted primarily or exclusively as economic efficiency, inordinate consumerism, physical beauty and pleasure, to the neglect of the more profound dimensions — interpersonal, spiritual and religious — of existence." Knowing full well that people throughout the world are questioning his own "quality of life," the Pope made clear that there is more to a human being than the body. He emphasized the need to see every human being, no matter his or her limitations, as the image and likeness of God, the Creator. It turns out this message is timely on many levels.

So, how many of us will be like Buckley and pray for the Pope’s death? Most will pray that his suffering will be alleviated, but perhaps deep down, death is their answer for that. Perhaps the better part would be to pray for God’s will, that the Pope will know and do God’s will and that all of us will accept it.

Lazzuri, a former staff writer and editorial assistant for the HERALD and founding editor of the Atlantic Catholic in Nova Scotia, Canada, is currently an editorial consultant.

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