Customer Reviews

Conclave: The Politics, Personalities, and Process of the Next Papal Election

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Author John L. Allen, Jr. is a correspondent for The National Catholic Reporter. He has penned a biography of controversial Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of the Vatican, and has already contracted to cover the future election of the new Pope for Fox News. Many Americans cannot remember the media focus and the world attention that the death of a popular Pope and the election of a new Cardinal to fill "the shoes of the fisherman" draw, since the event has not happened since 1978. Allen gives us a stunning view of the likely scenarios, issues and the potential for transformation that the Catholic Church faces as John Paul II's days as the most powerful leader in the Christian world draw to a close.

From Allen, we get the history of the papacy and the relevance of the way today's church works. He presents issues of bioethics, the church's positions on celibacy and sexuality, the need for church collegiality throughout the world, the need to balance centrist Vatican powers with the role of the world's bishops, and many current Catholic doctrines that will be continued or changed, depending on the election of the new Pope. He presents a dignified and on the mark representation of John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul I and II. He is both informative and relevant on the ceremonies that will transpire when the current Pope dies, without leaving any sense of a "lameduck" status for the existing Papacy and Vatican staff.

It's noteworthy that Allen tries to stay neutral on the current stand of the church on the issues, and on his introduction of the conclave participants - the world's cardinals. There is a little liberal and reform bias here, but he is careful to point it out. His choice of 20 of the most prominent or likely candidates is well thought out, and although he is clear that there are many prominent European candidates, the reader learns why the next Pope will not be elected from the USA, and clearly outlines why the 6 Latin American and 2 African Cardinals are serious contenders to lead the Catholic church in the new millennium.

A fascinating frontspiece to one of the world's great dramas, "The Conclave" makes for interesting reading for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

There is a vertiable sub-genre of books anticipating, analyzing, and seeking to influence the next conclave. John Allen's highly readable "Conclave" is the latest installment; specifically, it follows in the footsteps of Margaret Hebblethwaite's extensive 2000 revision of her late husband's "The Next Pope." Other books in the genre come in the form of political science (Father Thomas J. Reese's "Inside the Vatican"), quasi-history (Gary Wills' "Hitler's Pope," Francis Burkle-Young's "Passing the Keys"), and fiction (Edward Sheehan's elegant "Cardinal Galsworthy," Father Andrew Greeley's paper-thin "White Smoke," Malachi Martin's "Windswept House").

Both Allen and Hebblethwaite are votaries of the "Catholic left," and share an agenda that seeks to conform (or "reform") 2000 years of Church doctrine, discipline and tradition to the political agenda of the contemporary cultural left. This involves the "devolution" or "decentralization" of authority in the Church, and greater "innovation" and "experimentation" with Catholic doctrine. The Church is an instrument to achieve political ambitions: moral decentralization coupled with political centralization, the Netherlands writ worldwide. Above all else, success in this program lies in electing a "reformist" Pope, someone who "gets it," as the saying goes. Allen's chapter on "Voting Issues" is understandable in this context. But to his credit he gives some space to fairly describing the reasoning of those who defend traditional Church teachings.

Allen's chapter on "How the Conclave Works" is also quite good. It describes the unfurling of events in the aftermath of a pope's death: from destroying the "ring of the fisherman" through the novemdiales (nine days of mourning), to the conclave itself, the announcement "habemus papam" (we have a pope"), and the installation mass of the new pope. Allen even suggest the restaurants in Rome that journalists will watch to see which cardinals are dining together, and what that means.

The book's categorization of the cardinals into four "political parties" is imperfect but acute, and not entirely unlike that of traditionalist Russell Shaw. It is a valuable resource for those new to this area and seeking to make sense of over 120 electors. Border Patrol cardinals want to take the world up on its boast that "diversity" is the highest value by preserving space for the Universal Church's Deposit of Faith against the hostile forces of cotemporary culture. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Munich, the great theologian, is a leader among these cardinals. Salt of the Earth Integralists (or "restorationists" in another description) want Church teaching to be realized in civil law. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state, and Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City are among this group.

Salt of the Earth-Social Justice cardinals focus on using Church credibility to force government action on "social justice" issues. The classic examples of this type are the Brazilian Cardinals Paulo Evaristo Arns and Aloisio Lorscheider; Cardinals Dionigi Tettamanzi of Genoa and Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa (Honduras) are among their number, too. Finally, Reformist cardinals seek a fundamental restructuring of the Church, devolving power from the pope and permitting greater experimentation with church doctrine and discipline. Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini of Milan is the leader of these cardinals.

There is necessarily overlap between the Border Patrol and Integralist cardinals, and between the Reformist and Social Justice cardinals. Also, many cardinals do not fit comfortably into one category - e.g., Cardinal Jaimie Sin of Manila -- would be considered both a Social Justice Cardinal and, to a certain degree, a Border Patrol cardinal.

One of the shortcomings of this book is its failure to discuss the role of Grand Electors in the conclave, those cardinals who by virtue of their knowledge of languages or personal authority can strongly influence the vote of other cardinals. Even among a flock of shepherds, some are sheep; indeed, there are likely to be far more sheep than shepherds. Yet there is no consideration of the impact of the recent deaths of three cardinals thought to be likely Grand Electors -- Cardinals O'Connor of New York, Bernardin of Chicago, and Hume of Westminster (London). The book also does not take account of recent scandals in Belgium that might effect one of Allen's favorite Reformist Cardinals (Godfried Danneels) or the hostile comments of another favorite (Social Justice Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa ) on the American media, which (together with he worldwide media) Allen believes will have the greatest impact on who is elected. (Imagine the editorial boards of the Guardian, Le Monde and the New York Times sitting in conclave.)

Probably of greatest interest to readers will be Allen's discussion of his "top 20" prospects for election. Allen and Hebblethwaite make two contrary assumptions - he says Italian option is not the most likely, she says it is; he says the cardinals do not know each other well, she says they know each other better than ever before - and yet they they choose many of the same cardinals as their leading candidates, showing the powerful combination of politics and sentiment whatever the factual assumptions.

Martini of Milan is very much the sentimental favorite of Allen, with Tettamanzi of Genoa being an evidently acceptable fall-back option. Allen also places in his top twenty - one of whom, he says, is very likely to be elected the next pope - several cardinals that would find it very difficult to be elected because of their pronounced hostility to Church tradition - e.g., Cardinals Walter Kasper of Rotterdam-Stuttgart and Karl Lehmann of Mainz (Germany) - and excludes other that appear far more "papabile" (or electable) - e.g., Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela of Madrid. Other names - e.g., Cardinal Walter Napier of Durban (South Africa) - that have nod widely appeared on other lists seem to make an appearance here only to offset cardinals that Allen would find less congenial. (Napier seems to be there to provide an African alternative to Border Patrol Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria, who is widely considered papabile.)

A rough count of the entire college on the basis of Allen's descriptions suggests there are approximately 74 Border Patrol and Integralist cardinals and 47 Reformist and Social Justice cardinals. Some will drift where momentum pulls them, thus highlighting the role of Grand Electors. The count also suggests the greater likelihood (or at least pronounced plausibility) of the election of Cardinal Ratzinger (a possibility Hebblethwaite takes seriously and is, surprisingly, open to, but one that Allen totally excludes), Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Vienna (who Allen in similar language to Hebblethwaite dismisses, despite his appearance in the "top 20") and Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger of Paris (here too, both authors use the same explanations to diminish his electability).

Overall, Allen's selection of his top 20 reflects his view that he Church suffers from a crisis of institutions, not a crisis of faith; and this explains the identities of his favorites. But what he never explains is why the Church should have as its supreme leader those among his top 20 (Martini, Kasper, Lehmann, Danneels, among others) who want to give up the good fight and surrender to the worst instincts of contemporary culture. As such, though the book, filtered for partisanship, is a good guide to the next pope's election, it struggles to get past its ideological moorings.

. . .but marred in places by the author's political viewpoint.

"Conclave" is a well-written and informative book about exactly "how" the Catholic Church will go about selecting the new Pope upon the passing of Pope John Paul II. The author, a Rome-based journalist, has already been selected by Fox News as their correspondent and "expert" when the time comes. Especially helpful is the "step-by-step" description of what happens in the Vatican from the moment the Pope dies straight through his Coronation Mass. Also helpful is the information concerning the various "political parties" within the College of Cardinals and useful biographies of those Cardinals whom the author sees as papabile (those for whom election is possible).

Less helpful, and indeed off-putting, was the author's obvious bias toward the left wing of the Catholic hierarchy. This is seen, not only in his direct comments, but also in his subtle ridicule of conservative Cardinals. This ridicule is usually effected by the relating of "humorous" anecdotes which serve to make conservative Cardinals look silly. The more a Cardinal is portrayed as a moderate or liberal, the less likely the ridicule.

Other than this bit of childishness, the book is a valuable tool. But the conservative or traditionalist reader will have (many) moments of (great) annoyance.

Three stars.

As a general overview, I heartily endorse the review posted below by Nathaniel Avignon. However, now that the event for which this book was prepared is upon us, I would add a few points.

Allen's overview of the process and personalities of Conclave strikes this non-Catholic reader as a remarkably thorough one, and a valuable resource to keep by your television and newspaper in the coming weeks (especially since Allen himself will be showing up as a commentator on Fox News). As they say at the ball games, you can't tell the players without a program, and "Conclave" does a fine job in explaining both the curial offices (camerlengo, Vicar of Rome, etc.) and the specific roles they play in the period from the death of the old pope to the election of the new one.

Allen includes profiles of most of the leading *papabiles* and capsule biographies of nearly every other eligible Cardinal, circa 2002. Because the book is a couple of years old, some of the information is slightly outdated. By and large, however, the names in Allen's books are the names in today's newspapers.

I've read a number of books about papal history, conclaves, and "inside the Vatican" exposés over the years, and plan to read one or two more in the next few weeks. But few have exposed the inner workings, the implicit (and sometimes even explicit) political and theological groupings, in the way this title has. If you're looking for a title that makes the whole historic, secretive, but incredibly interesting process now unfolding somewhat more transparent, "Conclave" by John Allen strikes me as a very hard book to beat.

Sadly, with the passing of Pope John Paul II yesterday, this book has suddenly become topical. Many people will likely be looking for resources to give them some clue as to what happens next. In particular, how is the next pope chosen? Many people may be familiar with the term "conclave" but many not be certain as to what it all really entails. This book spells it out quite well.

A thin volume, of particular interest is chapter 3, "How the Conclave Works". Mr. Allen, a longtime reporter on Catholic issues, does an excellent job of taking us through the steps from the moment of John Paul's death through the process of the election of his successor. However, this book actually does much more as one might expect from someone conversant with the working of the Vatican. There are chapters detailing the duties of the popes, the issues facing the electors and some of the factions within the college of cardinals. He also has some interesting points to make about how the intense media scrutiny of this election will effect things for the better and for the worse.

The weakness of the book, of course, is that it is somewhat dated. Written three years ago now, the chapter on "the candidates" could use an update. Also, the child abuse scandal that has rocked the Church in the past couple years needs to be addressed. However, it is somewhat surprising how few of the names have changed: some have aged beyond eligibility, some have passed and some have changed jobs, but a surprising number have remained basically unchanged. The Church is nothing if not slow to change.

In this time of change, it is nice to know that there is someplace to go for answers to the basic questions. Mr. Allen has provided some of the answers for us and I recommend this book as a useful tool to understanding the days ahead.

CONCLAVE is a well written analysis of the processes surrounding the inevitable passing of Pope John Paul II. It also contains a brief, yet cogent outline (albeit somewhat "left of center") of the issues which will play a role in the selection of the next pope.

The author, John Allen, is a veteran reporter and Vatican correspondent who brings a depth and breadth of knowledge in identifying the key players and issues which will loom over the next papal election. Issues include collegiality and authority within the church, sexuality and bioethics, the roles of women and laity, doctrine and social justice. Key players include many relatively well-known cardinals already in the inner circle as well as others who have emerged into the spotlight in recent years. Mr. Allen offers a fascinating description of the various political factions or "parties" within the College of Cardinals.

The book also describes in clear detail, the rituals and procedures for the entire process from the death of the Pope to the conclave culminating in the election and installation of the new Pontiff. While detailed in its explanations, the book is surprisingly easy to read, yet never stoops to a level of superficiality despite its breezy style. The brief biographies of the cardinals are also helpful, although I would have expected to see several other names in the list of probably contenders.

I purchased this book over a year ago but didn't start reading it until Pope John Paul II was dying. I wanted to have an authoritative book handy so when the time came I could understand the Vatican's transition process and politics. Eventho' Allen wrote his book three years ago, it's contemporary enough so that virtually all of the notables are still around and the backgrounds on them and the issues are largely unchanged. I appreciate the insider's look Allen knowledgeably provides, eventho' I'm no longer Catholic (see Amazon's webpages on my book "Concepts: A ProtoTheist Quest for Science-Minded Skeptics). Allen's book is well written, a pleasure to read and a valuable guide to the emerging events.

Hope springs eternal among liberal Catholics. At least that is what one gathers from reading John L. Allen's Conclave. Written as a guide to what would follow the death of Pope John Paul II, it also seems to serve as wishful thinking by a memeber of the delusional Catholic left.

The book actually can be functionally divided in two. First is the description of the course to be followed in the election of a new pope. Here, Allen is excellent and gives a solid overview both of the mechanics of the process and an interesting breakdown of the function of various church officials in the unfolding events. Anyone curious of the internal mechanics of the process would be well serverd by reading Allen's account.

It is in Allen's analysis of how the issues facing the Church and the personalities involved that he goes completely offtrack. His theolgical liberalism is only exceeded by his lack of understanding of the nature of Christian doctrine. In his eyes, the theology of the Catholic Church should be in line with contemporary liberal beliefs. The idea that the Church should hold to eternal truths of the faith does not seem to hold much weight in his reasoning.

Worst yet, Allen allows this bias to cloud his judgment of a likely next pope. Allen ignores the fact that Pope John Paul II had a quarter century to stack the deck with theologically conservtive cardinals. Allen also glosses the Catholic Church's traditional makeup outside the West (Allen admits non-Western Catholics are an increasingly key factor). In ignoring that third world Catholics would favor a more traditional candidate, he projects his Western liberal sensibilities on those for whom it has little if any appeal. The result is a hodgepodge of modernist myth and wishful thinking.

At every turn, Allen belittles those traditional and conservative cardinals who were considered "papable" and praises liberal candidates and even radicals on the margins of Catholicism. He goes to great lengths to rule out men such as Cardinal Josef Ratzinger but inludes among his candidates those with little support. One wonders Allen's reaction when Pope John Paul II passed away and it was indeed Ratzinger who was given the nod as next pope.

For an understanding of the mechanics of the process of electing a pope, Allen's depiction is still worthwhile reading. However, his analysis of the Catholic Church's future and the relative standing of the various theological parties within Catholicism has been proven erroneous. Because of its fundamental bias, Conclave cannot be recommended.

Thank goodness I found this book--It really is exactly what it says it is. Allen writes quite well, in typical journalist fashion, but the information he captures makes me wonder if he isn't primarily a historian. He's got a good style in terms of giving "just the facts", which I appreciated as I wasn't looking for editorials or op-ed pieces on John Paul II.

John L. Allen, Jr., has written the easiest to read and to understand book on the election of a pope in the Catholic Church. Conclave should be required reading for all Catholics in high school. I recommend it as well to anyone who wants to better understand their church.