How to Pick a Pope

What follows Compassion and Sophisticated Simplicity?

This week, 133 men will enter the Sistine Chapel. The doors will be closed and sealed behind them. Under Michelangelo’s frescos, they will enact the politics of choosing a new Pope.

The rest of the world will wait and watch Conclave, the fictionalized version of the selection process. (Viewership jumped 3,200% according to Axios and The New York Times reported that the movie's daily U.S. streaming viewership jumped to 6.9 million on the Monday following Pope Francis’ death. Variety also reported a 283% spike in viewership.)

There is intense speculation and pressure from every direction. Conservatives want to roll back Pope Francis' reforms. Progressives want to strengthen them. Italians want to bring the papacy "home". A record number of new Cardinals may swing the balance of power. One hopes that the holy spirit of inclusion floats into the room.

There is a conventional wisdom about choosing successors in large organizations. In Theodore Caplow's classic, Managing an Organization, he notes that all leaders, from the Pope to an army sergeant, get an organizational honeymoon period in which he is exempt from criticism. Not at all sure the cardinals have read Caplow. In any case, following a well loved leader is always difficult. Following a controversial leader is even more difficult when the factions are already formed.

If I were in "the room where it happens" I would start by reflecting on who Pope Francis was and what he brought the world. I would offer a short video produced by the Vatican communications office. It shows a man of compassion, who never forgot the poor and who always remembered he was a parish priest. He was a man of what I call sophisticated simplicity, discarding some of the opulence of office to reflect the church's core teaching.

And I would remember that Francis was a personal pope, whose influence extended beyond the bounds of the Catholic church and offer this prayer that I posted after his death.

I never met Pope Francis, but he was my holy shepherd. I am not a Catholic, but he was my spiritual leader. I disagree with much of the church's doctrine, but he was my teacher. I morn his loss and pray that the Conclave will find a leader that walks with the poor, breaks bread with the oppressed, and unites all faiths to heal humanity and the planet.

Hope and courage,

Chuck