Future pope's flock differs on qualities of next leader

As the world's cardinals begin the election of a new pope next week, we asked some of the Seattle archdiocese's approximately 800,000 Roman Catholics what they hope to see in their next pontiff.

Six — a priest, a seminarian, two nuns and two laypeople — shared their views. Their opinions are not meant to represent all priests, sisters or lay Catholics, much less the full spectrum of opinions within the church.

The world's approximately 1.1 billion Catholics differ on issues ranging from internal church workings to abortion and war.

Whoever the next pope may be, dealing with such differences may be one of his biggest challenges.

The priest

The Rev. Roger O'Brien still gets excited when he talks about the Second Vatican Council.

O'Brien, 69, a retired priest who served as pastor of St. Luke Church in Shoreline for 19 years, was ordained in 1961, shortly before the start of Vatican II.

That church council, convened by Pope John XXIII, made many changes in the life of the church, including allowing the celebration of Mass in local languages rather than Latin, creating opportunities for ecumenical dialogue and opening discussions on the importance of laypeople within the church.

"It was thrilling," said O'Brien, who lived in Europe during that time. "It was a moment for renewal of the Gospel, to make it contemporary and alive for ourselves and our world."

But there has been little follow-through on those changes, he said. Part of the reason for that, he believes, was the style of Pope John Paul II.

O'Brien said the pope united the world in some ways. But within the church, he said, the pope centralized authority and power, silenced certain theologians who disagreed with his stances and refused to openly discuss some church issues.

O'Brien hopes a new pope would be more collegial rather than authoritarian in style, respecting the role of bishops and each country's conference of bishops. And he would like to see a pope who welcomes laypeople in leadership positions and even in the election of bishops.

He acknowledges some of those wishes are not likely to happen.

"But you never know," he said. "Who thought John XXIII would be elected and do what he did?"

The seminarian

As a teenager in Yakima, Ricky Padilla hung out with a macho, partying crowd. It wasn't until he went back to church regularly, then attended an evangelical Christian music festival, that he started feeling the call to priesthood.

Now 20, Padilla is a seminarian of the Seattle Archdiocese, studying at Mount Angel Seminary in St. Benedict, Ore.

He said he was inspired by John Paul II, whom he called "everything you want in a leader" and someone who transcended the liberal/conservative divide.

"At times, he got both sides mad at him," said Padilla.

He agreed with John Paul II on stances such as opposition to birth control, seeing contraceptive use as part of people's intentions "to stop what is a potential human being from coming into existence."

Padilla would like to see the next pope continue interfaith efforts and work on behalf of the disadvantaged. In addition, he hopes the next pope will work on "re-evangelizing America and Europe."

There has been much talk of the next pope possibly coming from Latin America or Africa, where the church is growing most rapidly.

But Padilla said, "I'm not completely sold on having a Hispanic pope. I don't think it's time yet. We need to take time [in Latin American countries] for people to get the fire back."

He wouldn't mind seeing an African pope. Padilla met some African bishops last year, one of whom, he said, took confession for 10 hours straight. "They completely give themselves to the people of God," he said.

Padilla supports having a celibate priesthood and would be surprised if the next pope changed that requirement. Even if the church allowed priests to marry, he probably wouldn't.

"A family is a full-time job, and I think that the people of God would suffer from married priests because less time would be devoted to them by [their] priests," he said.

The student

Jennifer Davis, a 20-year-old sophomore at Seattle University, cried when she heard the bells at St. James Cathedral toll, signaling the death of Pope John Paul II.

For Davis, a student at Catholic schools since she was 4, John Paul II was the only pope she has known. He showed how glorious it could be to live a life of deep faith, she said. "Living the way of God is so difficult. The pope is someone who shows us it can be done," she said.

ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Seattle University sophomore Jennifer Davis, pictured in the school's St. Ignatius Chapel, hopes the next pope is "more progressive, more realistic" about such controversial issues as birth control, gay rights and the ordination of women.

Living the way of God to Davis means committing to sacrifices in her life, such as not taking drugs and not having sex before marriage.

But she doesn't necessarily expect others to make similar commitments. She hopes the next pope will be someone who is "more progressive, more realistic" about issues such as birth control, gay rights and the ordination of women.

"A lot of what the church teaches now is based on traditions that are thousands of years old, not so much on personal thought or experience," she said. "The next pope needs to recognize that faith cannot be carried out within a vacuum. There are many factors in everyone's lives, and not everyone can follow the exact same guidelines."

The retiree

Fred Cirineo, 74, a retired Boeing engineer in Newcastle, misses the Latin Mass of his childhood. He goes each Sunday to the chapel of the Josephinum residence in downtown Seattle, where the group Una Voce sponsors the only Vatican-approved Latin Mass in the archdiocese.

The reforms brought about by Vatican II, including the use of local languages at Mass, "are not very good," Cirineo said.

There is a lack of reverence and piety in the liturgy, he said, such as having priests face the people, turning their backs to the altar while they celebrate Mass.

He hopes the next pope will restore the pre-Vatican II practices and "be more firm on adherence to the teachings, traditions and dogmas of the church."

While Cirineo praised John Paul II for his stance on issues such as abortion and gay marriage and his visits with his worldwide flock, he disagreed with the pope's 1986 convening in Assisi, Italy, the leaders from various religions.

"If we believe that the Catholic Church is the one true church," he said, "then we should not try to show some manifestation that the other guys are also true."

The next pope should also address why church attendance is dropping in some places and seminary enrollment declining, Cirineo said. "It was after Vatican II that attendance dropped, so there must be some bad effect that Vatican II has."

The elderly nun

Sister Victorine Hammerschmith, a 95-year-old Dominican nun who lives at St. Joseph Residence in West Seattle, has lived through the reigns of eight popes.

For her, one pope stands out: John XXIII. He "probably had the greatest influence in modern times in the way Catholics live their faith," she said.

She particularly likes having Mass in English rather than Latin because it helps people better understand the liturgy.

The next pope, she said, will face challenges, including dealing with the sexual-abuse crisis in the clergy, the greater influence of Third World countries within the church and deciding whether to ordain women.

And she would like to see the next pope encourage laypeople to participate more in decision-making at all levels. "Since laity are the life of the church, it seems reasonable that any decision involving their lives should at least involve them in the decision-making," she said.

The "young" nun

At 49, Sister Mary Medved is the second youngest in the Washington province of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.

That points to one of the biggest challenges she sees facing the church: the shortage of people to lead it. That's why she wants a pope who encourages more lay leadership within the church and openly talks about the declining number of people entering the celibate priesthood.

"I do believe there is a role for celibacy," Medved said. "I'm just not sure it has to be a requirement for the diocesan priesthood."

At the same time, Medved, who joined her religious community at 35 after working for years with the poor, acknowledges that Catholics hold widely divergent views on these and other issues. What she hopes for, above all, is a pope who will listen to all views.

"My hope is our next pope is a deeply spiritual person, a good listener, a person open to dialogue," Medved said. "If we can have that, I think that will go a long way toward tackling some of these issues that are causing tensions within the church."

Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com