My sisters and brothers in Christ in the Roman Catholic Church know how to put on a spectacle. Pope-making shows this in all its splendour. The cardinals are locked into the Sistine Chapel, the decision is conveyed by a plume of white smoke and the first words that are spoken are in Latin, by a man dressed as a Roman senator. Contrast that with the committee which has been meeting since the start of the year to appoint a new Archbishop of Canterbury. The cardinals were locked in the Sistine Chapel so that they could better discern the will of God. I’m never quite sure how that works; I am always aware that the Divine will has first to penetrate my own flawed mind. But there is a wonderful line on the BBC website about the process; how the cardinals were to consider “not just what the institution and Catholic believers needed, but also what humanity needed at a difficult juncture, with war and division the backdrop”. I love the breath of that vision. The Church of God is for all people, believers and non-believers. I know nothing about Pope Leo, Robert Prevost, beyond what I have read this morning but my own prayer is that he, like Francis, will speak truth and hope to all.
Rev David Poyner