2008 Woodie Awards
Panel discusses new pope, election process in Vatican
By: Maggie Carlson
Issue date: 4/21/05 Section: News
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Panel members, who met April 18 in the UC Sunnen Lounge, talked about how they would feel if Ratzinger, who has been called a "conservative's conservative," became the new pope.
Sr. Claudia Calzetta, the director of campus ministries at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, said Ratzinger would not be her choice. She hoped for a pope who is willing to engage in conversations about women's status in the church.
"I do think this needs to be looked at again, again and again," Calzetta said. "I'm not specifically talking about ordination, but I am talking about the role of women in the Church. When I hear about the silencing of theologian after theologian, or writer after writer, it disturbs me."
Rev. C. Eugene Morris, from Kenrick-Glennon Theological Seminary, said he would appreciate a new pope much like Ratzinger, even though he did not think it would be Ratzinger. He said he appreciated Ratzinger's doctrine, even though he would probably lack the charisma of Pope John Paul II.
"I'm probably the only one on the panel who would like to see Cardinal Ratzinger become pope," Morris said. "There are certain realities of the Church such as the role of women in general or women's ordination that at a particular point don't allow themselves anymore room for conversation."
Ratzinger held the position of head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1981 and was the dean of College of Cardinals. He also held the position of archbishop of Munich in the 1970s.
Webster professor Dan Hellinger said it will be difficult for a new pope to make the Church more progressive.
"We have a very strong conservative right-wing base in the Church," Hellinger said. "It's going to be a very difficult to negotiate a course for the Church in a more progressive direction, especially because Pope John Paul II leaves a legacy of a much more conservative pope."