Emotions Running High Before Holy Week in Hartford Archdiocese

By Christina Craig
DTHartford Staff

HARTFORD, Conn.  - “It’s just a question of when”, answered Father John Leonard of St. Patrick’s – St. Anthony Church, “we may have a new Pope before Holy week, it’s a very biblical and important time for the church and if we don’t have a Pope… it’s kind of embarrassing”.  While Father John is hopeful that the Cardinals will elect a new Pope before Easter, he explained that the absence of a Pope hasn’t affected Hartford Catholic Churches at a local level.  

“Each Archdiocese will continue running as usual with their respective Archbishops, bishops, monsignors, priests, etc. espousing the word of God and adhering to a theology that is 2000 years old”, said Maria Zone, director of communications at the Archdiocese in Hartford. The only difference in protocol “is there is no system of mourning because he’s not dead, Father Thomas added.  He furthers explains that losing a Pope is not unusual, “Popes die and get elected, this is the system in place”. 

Pope Benedict is the first Pope in almost 600 years to resign.  Father Thomas Gallagher, also from St. Patrick’s – St. Anthony’s Church assumes that, “emotions must be running high in the Vatican.  Our response is ‘we don’t have a Pope right now, we’re almost removed from the situation since we can’t control much of what is happening in Rome”. He said there is a new sense of awkwardness because typically when the church looses a Pope it is because of death, which usually is followed by grief and a mourning period.  In this case Pope Benedict resigned from papacy due to health and age related issues. 

Cardinals from all over the world have traveled to Vatican City in Rome to be part of the conclave, a Roman Catholic assembly of Cardinals, which will elect a new Pope.  This group comprises of 115 cardinals and is expected to meet tomorrow in pursuit of choosing the next Pope. 

Zone mentioned that “during this process the Cardinals, “are under no deadline to select the Pope, but the general consensus is that they will attempt to make a decision before Holy Week, which begins on March 24, so the cardinals can return to their respective homes/parishes in time for Easter”.  During the conclave, the cardinals will pray, meditate, and reflect on who should be the next Holy Father of the Catholic Church Zone says.  Many Catholics send their prayers in which they hope to have a new Pope already elected for Holy Week. 

“Catholics around the world are saddened by the departure of Pope Benedict XVI, even though in choosing to resign he showed humility and bravery,” Zone said. But at the same time, the faithful are excited to see who will lead them in the 21^st century and they anxiously await the announcement. 

“I hope that this Pope will be a little bit more open-hearts, open-doors, open-minds towards people that aren’t yet quit excepted in the catholic church,” said Pam Johnson, a staff member of St. Patrick’s – St. Anthony’s Church.

“I don’t think it directly effects me," said Kathy Broggini a member of the church’s congregation, “but I’m thinking the catholic church is becoming more conservative, and I think that may be the trend with the this new Pope.”  Broggini expressed that over time she has noticed a conservative trend in the catholic Vatican hierarchy, mentioning that Pope Benedict was more conservative than the previous Pope.  As the catholic churches are awaiting the Cardinals vote and to see exactly who will be in order of the catholic faith, Father Thomas doesn’t expect any radical change to take place.  He expects the newly elected Pope to originate from Europe since all previous Popes have been Eurocentric.