Book Review: George Weigel sketches proceedings in last conclave
God’s Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church
By George Weigel
HarperCollins
307 pages with index and chapter notes
$26.95
Reviewed by William R. Bruns
George Weigel, senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., Catholic theologian and author of the bestseller, Witness to Hope: The Biography of John Paul II, has written another book. It’s titled God’s Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church, and it’s likely to be another bestseller for Weigel.
The first three chapters—about 100 pages—deal with the last days and death of Pope John Paul II, his legacy to the Church and the world, and the papal funeral that drew as many as 3 million people from around the world to the Eternal City to pay their respects to the spiritual leader that many were already calling “John Paul the Great.”
Weigel characterizes the late pope’s last days as his “last, great paternal lesson,” a lesson about the dignity of human life and the value of redemptive suffering.
He discusses John Paul’s legacy in terms of his emphasis on Christian humanism and on fearlessness (“Be not afraid!”); the new evangelization; the huge body of magisterial teachings, especially in interpreting the teachings of the Second Vatican Council; the active engagement of the world and the fall of atheistic communism in central and eastern Europe; his encouragement of new renewal movements in the Church; the unprecedented expansion of the company of officially recognized blesseds and saints; his leadership in the celebration of the Great Jubilee at the turn of the millennium; and his significant outreach to the Jews.
Weigel points out that the papacy of John Paul II also had its frustrations: the de-Christianization of Europe; the failure to make progress with the government of the communist Chinese; ecumenical “logjams,” especially concerning Orthodox Christianity; the breakdown of episcopal authority and energy; the inability of established religious orders and congregations to fully reform themselves; the failure to redesign the Curia, the central offices of the Church; and, in Weigel’s view, the failure of the Church in the United States to realize its great potential.
Thus, in this first part of the book, Weigel brings to a close his reporting and commentary on the life of the man he so masterfully chronicled in Witness to Hope.
However, the heart of Weigel’s book—and its most fascinating section—is found in the fourth chapter, which deals with the conclave that elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as pope.
The chapter gives the history and background of papal elections, outlines the changes made in the rules and procedures of the election process by Pope John Paul II in his 1996 apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis (Pastor of the Lord’s Whole Flock), discusses papabili (those most likely to be elected), then presents readers with a “Conclave Diary.”
First, Weigel outlines what he believes happened in the conclave. “Because the Conclave of 2005 was short and because the timing of the announcement of his election made it clear that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had been elected on the fourth ballot [held on the afternoon of April 19], the basic story line of the papal election of 2005,” Weigel says, “came quickly into focus: Cardinal Ratzinger entered the conclave with very strong support and received a large vote on the first ballot, held on Monday evening, April 18. His total increased with each succeeding ballot, such that he was elected by an overwhelming majority at the first afternoon ballot on April 19.”
Following this general snapshot of the election, Weigel then develops—in diary format—what he believes were the day-to-day details, beginning with Monday, April 11, eight days before the opening of the conclave.
Here he singles out three cardinals as being in the “first tier” of papabili: Cardinal Ratzinger, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, papal vicar for the Diocese of Rome, and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Later in the chapter, Weigel analyzes what he believes to be election specifics, saying that Cardinal Ratzinger perhaps received 50 votes on the first ballot, with Cardinals Ruini and Bergoglio also receiving support.
Keep in mind that Weigel probably wrote his book between late April and July 22, (the date he gives at the end of his “Acknowledgments.” On Sept. 23, two months after Weigel wrote his version of the conclave, the Italian journal Limes published an account reportedly based on the diary kept by an unnamed Italian cardinal. This version described the basic scenario set forth by Weigel. The fact that Weigel identifies Cardinal Bergoglio as a front-runner clearly shows that he lives up to his publisher’s description of him as “one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Catholic Church” with “unparalleled access to the Vatican.”
Weigel’s description of Cardinal Bergoglio’s role in the papal election certainly enhances the credibility of what happened behind those locked doors.
The rest of the book gives a brief biography of Joseph Ratzinger and a 60-page chapter that looks into the possible future of the Church under the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI.
The book is well-written and full of the on-target insights that readers have come to expect of George Weigel. A neoconservative, Weigel has strongly held opinions about what’s wrong with the Catholic Church and how it can be improved. However, even more liberal readers would agree that when George Weigel brings his considerable intellect to bear on issues, his opinions deserve careful consideration.
(George Weigel will be the keynote speaker at the archdiocese’s annual Celebrating Catholic School Values: Career Achievement Awards Dinner on Nov. 8 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. For ticket information, call Jolinda Moore at 317-236-1462 or 800-382-9836, ext. 1462, or e-mail jmoore@archindy.org.)
(William R. Bruns is executive director of the archdiocese’s Secretariat for Communications.) †