When the Catholic Church transitions between popes, it is often a dramatic time for both cradle Catholics and converts alike; we bid farewell to our Holy Father, and pray for the Holy Spirit to guide the process as we wait to see who will be elected next. Because Pope Francis passed away at the very beginning of the Easter season, this also means that all those who were received into the Church at the Easter Vigil two days previous have already spent more of their time as Catholics without a pope than with one.
Beyond the range of emotions experienced by Catholics however, there is an enormous curiosity that grips the entire world, even those who may not otherwise be interested in the Church, regarding papal transitions. Many of the converts in the CHNetwork membership are the only Catholics in their extended families, and now have to serve as liaisons to their non-Catholic loved ones and answer all sorts of questions as to what is actually going on in the Church at the present moment. Speculation and analysis regarding Vatican goings-on has become daily water cooler fare.
For some, this curiosity has more of the character of a fantasy football league rather than any real interest in the nature of Catholic ecclesiology. But for others, the funeral of one pope and the election of another can spark much deeper questions. What is the Church? What constitutes legitimate Christian authority? How does what I am seeing unfold compare to the historical and hierarchical experience of my own faith tradition? These questions can open up seekers of good will to the possibility of wanting to know about Catholicism beyond the mere practical mechanics of a conclave.
In fact, several of our Coming Home Network members have shared that witnessing papal transitions has played a significant role in causing them to consider taking a fresh look at the Catholic Church.
Here are some of their stories…
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“On August 6, 1978, Pope Paul VI died. What I soon learned was that the three major TV networks in the United States were obsessed with who would be the next pope and how one is chosen. My father explained to me that some men would vote and then the color of smoke coming from their chimney would tell the world that they had chosen a new pope to lead the Catholic Church. Whenever I turned on the TV, it always seemed to be showing the same thing, the chimney. Finally, white smoke appeared on August 26, 1978, and Pope John Paul I had been selected by his fellow cardinals to be the next successor of St. Peter.
“Everything returned to normal in my world until September 28, 1978 when Pope John Paul I died. Oh no! There came the TV screen with the chimney again! Was I ever going to see ABC’s Wide World of Sports again? On October 16, 1978, Karol Wojtyla, the Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, was chosen to be the Bishop of Rome and took the name Pope John Paul II. I had missed six Saturdays of ABC’s Wide World of Sports along with some college and professional football games, so I was delighted to have my TV back. As I rejoiced to hear the words, ‘now back to our regularly scheduled programming…’, I was completely unaware that the man who would become the most influential Christian of the twentieth century had just put on the mantle of the papacy.
“This man, with whom I was indirectly quite annoyed, I would one day call my pope. He would bravely stand up to un-godly communism and I would marvel at his strength and courage as he battled Parkinson’s disease. When he passed away I was in a state of shock as I recall saying to my friends and family, ‘he was the only pope I ever knew….’
“…Several years after joining the Church, I volunteered to be a sponsor for my parish RCIA. I was paired with a young man who told me his interest in the Catholic Church started after Pope John Paul II died. He told me how all the national and cable news stations were covering the Pope’s death and papal funeral almost twenty-four hours per day. He was so intrigued by this man and the impact he had made on the world that he wanted to learn more about the Catholic Church and this ultimately led him to RCIA. I thought it was ironic that as a child I was annoyed by the television coverage given to John Paul II’s election to the papacy but the television coverage of John Paul’s funeral moved my friend to conversion.”
Dr. David Perry, Former Presbyterian, How the Pope Ruined My TV
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“I hate to admit this, but I was very sectarian and narrow minded back then, thinking that anyone who was outside the fold of our own denomination was doomed to hell. I considered the Catholic Church to be the greatest of offenders. However, I do remember at age seventeen, watching the funeral Mass of Pope John Paul I in 1978 with great interest and curiosity. I even took notes! Though I understood nothing about the Mass, I was intrigued. Today, I wonder if any seeds were planted in my soul then, only to germinate fourteen years later.”
Jim Barnett, former Church of Christ, From Sectarian to Sacramental
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“I still had a long list of objections to Catholic teaching, but one by one, they all seemed to get answered. I still laugh at the rather spectacular way that God dealt with one of my last objections. It was this: surely the Catholic Church was in the pay of the Italians? All the Popes had been Italian for 400 years. I found the Church of England questionable, because it was too English — and middle class English at that — but wasn’t I going from the frying pan into the fire? From an exclusively English middle-class institution to an exclusively Italian one? Well, one day I found myself attending a Mass, and at the end of it the priest said: ‘I have an announcement to make — we have a new pope! He has taken the name John Paul II. And he is Polish!’ This felt like a personal message from God, telling me not to be such an idiot and to let go of my endless objections to His Church.”
Dr. Cyprian Blamires, Former Anglican, Finding My Way
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“I loved the liturgy and the prayers of the Catholic Church. I appreciated that the Mass did not depend on the personality or the preferences of the pastor. Almost every part of the Mass was a biblical reference or quotation. I appreciated that we actually sang the psalms. Gradually, as I saw the host raised over the altar week after week, with the words ‘This is my body’ and ‘behold, the Lamb of God,’ I came to believe that Christ was truly present there, that this was my Church, and that I wanted to receive communion there. I was tired of watching on the sidelines. I wanted to be Catholic.
“I remember thinking how humble it was for Christ to become our bread. Incidentally, Pope St. John Paul II died that spring on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday. He had been pope my entire lifetime. It felt like a great, personal loss to me. Upon hearing of his death, I thought to myself, ‘I have to become Catholic.’”
Ari Mack, Former Pentecostal, Forgiveness on the Path to Faith
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“I was 51 years old, married for 15 years and without children, living on five acres in the woods of Southern Oregon, at the time of Pope John Paul II’s death. My husband, Brad, had not been as concerned as I over not having a real church to attend, but it bothered me very much for years, especially at Easter. Yet here was the largest Church on earth holding the world captive at Easter in the year 2005, and I could not stop crying.
“I was just a non-denominational Christian, not even Catholic, yet I had cried over the Pope’s heart-rending final Easter Sunday, appearing at the window of his Vatican apartment, not able to speak to us. I felt Karol Wojtyla (his birth name) had been my ‘friend’ and elder brother for a long time. Ever since he made worldwide news, coming out on the balcony at the Vatican on October 1978, I had been intrigued by this unique Polish Pope.
“My mother’s side of the family also came from Poland, so I felt we had something in common. Television news even noted his early years as an actor, doing something intriguing called ‘Theater of the Word.’ Wow — this was amazing. I, too, had grown up under the spell of theatre in all its colorful dimensions, material and spiritual. How was it possible that this new Pope and now leader of the Catholic Church knew some of these aspirations and dreams? They even made much of his losing his mother at an early age. My own mother had died when I was 14, leaving a husband and four children behind. It had certainly formed my life, so I could very much empathize with John Paul II.”
Adrienne Pueschel, former Evangelical Christian, One Moment of Grace
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“I sat praying in a Catholic church at Holy Cross Monastery near Tombstone, AZ. This was unusual for me, since I wasn’t Catholic. I had accompanied my mother-in-law, who was mourning her husband. This had been a place they had liked to stop and pray. As I knelt, I prayed: ‘God, I don’t understand the Catholic Faith, but I’d like to. This is so strange to me — the candles, the images, the whole culture — but I’d like to understand. If there is anything good here to learn, show me, teach me.’
“As we drove home to Texas, news of Pope Francis’ election was on the radio. I thought it interesting that he was from Argentina. I was thirty-six, married fourteen years, and serving alongside my wife at our Assemblies of God church. I would never have thought that, in a little over a year, I would be a Catholic.”
Enrique Crosby, Former Pentecostal, Finding the Vanishing Point
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In these days of transition for the Church, there will be much to read and watch regarding the closing of one pope’s legacy, and a new pope’s ascendancy. Plenty will be said about the bureaucratic aspects of Catholicism, the history of its leadership, and an exploration of the personalities involved in the process.
But in all the discussions about how the mechanics of this transition will work, don’t forget to lift up in prayer all those who may be observing these proceedings, not just with an interest in the Church as an organization, but perhaps as the place God may be calling them to as their spiritual home.
