Robert Blair Kaiser's new book A Church in Search of Itself is both a compelling depiction of the making of a pope and a rallying cry for a revolution of sorts among the faithful. Kaiser is a heavy hitter among Vatican watchers and prognosticators --it has been his beat since he was Time magazine's man in Rome covering the Second Vatican Council. More recently he has been Newsweek's Rome correspondent. He's also one of the rare religion correspondents with actual theological training --he was a Jesuit for ten years, leaving just shy of ordination to pursue a career in journalism. He's got the experience, connections, expertise and sharp vision to present an invaluable guide to what really went on, inasmuch as that can be known to anyone outside a locked conclave when John Paul II's successor was being chosen in April 2005. But this is no unbiased piece of reportage --Kaiser is a man with a mission and that mission was solidified when the white smoke went up signaling a new pope had been chosen: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. In response to this event the writing of a book about the making of a pope became the writing of a book about what the "People of God" can and should do to "take back the Church" from an authoritarian monarch who would stymie the voices calling for change in the Church.
A Church in Search of Itself takes a nod from the journalistic style frequently used by weekly news magazines like Time and presents the story of the 2005 papal conclave through in-depth profiles of six individuals --in this case individual cardinals assembled for this historic election. Along with Ratzinger, Kaiser profiles a crosssection of cardinals including: Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles, English Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (known for his ecumenical work), the charismatic Oscar Rodriguez Maradiago of Honduras, Francis Arinze of Nigeria (an African who was on the shortlist as a serious contender for pope), and a Jesuit Cardinal, Julius Darmaatmadja from Indonesia. These biographical sketches are indeed fascinating, cross cultural glimpses behind the hierarchical curtain and the politics that both made them cardinals and signaled their proclivities in choosing the next pope. But it is the chapters that begin and end the book where the reader will clearly hear Kaiser's alarm resounding over the direction the Church appears to be heading with Benedict the XVI at the helm.
The first chapter of the book entitled "Politics" is enormously intriguing as Kaiser describes the impact of the Internet on the pre-conclave meetings and politicking. Catholics the world-over could weigh in on Internet discussions and express their hopes and concerns over what kind of leader the new pope should be. Cardinals could read not only their local newspapers online and stay abreast of their people's concerns, but they could read the newspapers of the world easily --and they did. Kaiser points out that on the eve of the conclave one could learn all about that oft-mentioned African Cardinal, Arinze, on more than 2,000 web sites. If that sounds impressive, consider that "Googling" Joseph Ratzinger turned up over 100,0000 entries. Cardinals who surfed, and many confessed that they did so with vigor, could not claim ignorance of the concerns of their people. Those concerns wavered between two camps, which Kaiser likens to two political parties: The party of change, and the party of no-change. The party of change are the Catholics who want to see the priesthood opened up to married men, who favor the ordination of women, who believe contraception is a private matter of conscience and who think the Catholic Church is not superior to other expressions of Christianity or to other faiths.
The party of no-change is just that --it seeks to maintain things as they are and according to the change-proponents, goes beyond that to wanting to drag the Church back into a pre-Vatican II model of Church. The no-change folks see absolutes. The change folks balk at absolutes. Cardinal Ratzinger was the papal contender par excellence for the party of no-change, and his successful bid for power --which is how Kaiser interprets Ratzinger's politicking in the months prior to John Paul II's death and his behavior during the pre-conclave and the conclave itself-- thrusts the People of God into a fight or flight mode. For Kaiser the response should be a fight for a democratizing of the Church, a "taking back" of the Church that belongs to the people, not the hierarchy.
Kaiser's chapter on the conclave itself and on the beginnings of the papacy of Benedict the XVI do present a picture of a man who, while playing the required game of feigning no desire for the papacy, was in fact lobbying rather shamelessly for his own ascension to the throne of Peter. Ratzinger even had an assistant working what would be his first major address as pope four days before the conclave even began. His acceptance speech, in other words, was already drafted. So was the name Benedict. Cardinal Ratzinger was ready to roll. It's not a portrait that's comfortable to read, but it probably shouldn't come as a surprise given the case for the political reality of the papacy and the hierarchical Church that is well made early on in the book.
Kaiser also devotes quite a bit of the book to a summation of the life and career of John Paul II, and it is a critical biography that, while acknowledging the global impact of JPII and the historic moral and spiritual influence he wielded on the world stage, takes aim at what he sees as a stymieing of the charter given to the Church by Vatican II to empower the People of God and to promote collegiality among the ranks of bishops with what should have resulted in increased local autonomy. There is nothing new in this critique, or in the two sides engaging in a turf battle for control of the Church. We heard all these views endlessly during the funeral of John Paul II and during the speculation leading up to the conclave and its conclusion. What is unique about Kaiser's book is the in-depth profiling of six cardinals and the insight this provides into the machinations of the church and the world of the hierarchy at this historic moment.
Kaiser ends the book with some "Modest Proposals." One of these is bold and hardly modest: His proposal for an "autochthonous" Church for the United States. The word "autochthonous" means indigenous, or native to a particular region. There is a precedent in the ancient churches of the Middle East that remain part of the Roman Church, but have their own patriarchs (you may have noticed them in their very different vestings at the funeral of John Paul II). They also have their own, mostly married, clergy, and their own local liturgies. His question is whether it is possible to recreate such a situation today. Not so far back in history (1925 for example) just such an idea was proposed for bringing the whole Anglican Communion back into union with Rome. It was rejected, but the idea resurfaced within the Asian church as recently as 1998 with the Indonesian bishops proposing an autochthonous church for Indonesia during a synod in Rome. According to Kaiser, it's an idea whose time has come. It would be interesting if Kaiser had included the Canadian church in his proposal, to see if there is as much disgruntlement with the election of Benedict in North American in general as he believes there is in the U.S. But the focus of his proposal is on the U.S.
Two persistent questions arise in reading this critical assessment of the forces of no-change versus those of change. The first is why the "change" folks always complain that they are not being heard when what in fact seems to be the case is that they are indeed heard, but not agreed with. The second is: Does the party of change, likewise, "hear" what the other party is saying? Perhaps a listening Church will one day preclude the need for such partisan stances as those so graphically portrayed in A Church in Search of Itself.
MaryEllen O'Brien is a freelance writer and speaker based in Chicago. Her most recent book is Living in Ordinary Time: The Letters of Agatha Rossetti Hessley (ACTA). She is currently writing her doctoral dissertation in theology at Loyola University Chicago. Her last article for The Social Edge "Hungering for a Fast" appeared in the March 2006 issue.
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