Thought for the Day - Clifford Longley - 20/02/2013

DURATION: 02:45

Good morning 

One interesting way of understanding the forthcoming election of a new pope is in terms of two contrasting metaphors, both applying to the Catholic Church. 

The first image is of a disciplined army marching into battle - perhaps to the sound of "Onwards Christian soldiers" or maybe "Faith of our Fathers". The second is of a pilgrimage with a long line of individuals and groups strung out in an untidy procession across the desert, singing discordantly, searching for a way forward. The soldiers naturally think of the pilgrims as an undisciplined rabble; the pilgrims think the soldiers have somehow missed the whole point. 

There are technical names for these two metaphors. The first comes under the heading of the Mystical Body of Christ; and the second, the People of God. Two other images might help to complete the picture. The first model could also be likened to a fortress, with high battlements and a moat to keep out alien influences; the second could be like a huge family with members - and ideas - freely coming and going through open doors. 

The Second Vatican Council, which began its deliberations fifty years ago, decided that, for all its untidiness, the times called for more of the second one - the more relaxed and less disciplined People of God model. This harks back to the Old Testament idea of a community under a divine covenant, for all its faults. 

It moved away from the idea which we owe to the Counter Reformation of a hierarchical church controlled from the top where everyone knows their place. Officially the Catholic Church follows both these models simultaneously, seeing itself as both the People of God and the Body of Christ. But in practice one always tends to prevail over the other. And each version has its drawbacks. 

Since the Council ended in 1965, it seems to me, the Catholic Church has gradually pulled away from the looser idea of the People of God that Vatican II preferred, and has instead transferred the emphasis towards the more authoritative model. The problem is, though, that the change of metaphor hasn't entirely worked its way down to the grass roots. There's a tension. Those who welcomed the more open and relaxed model aren't keen to give it up. 

The cardinals who will elect the new Pope were appointed by Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor, John Paul II, who were both pretty conservative. Yet they could still come to the conclusion that the "army on the march" model - or "Fortress Church" model - has served its purpose and it is now time to change tack. It seems likely that the internal debate between the cardinals in conclave will be between the two positions I have outlined. The agonising question in all their prayers will be: which model does God prefer?

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