Meeting the Next (American) Pope?

Assumption College, where I attend college, is a Catholic school. You don’t have to be Catholic to go there of course, and no one is going to force you to go to the church that happens to be on campus, but nonetheless it being a Catholic school has effects on the college, often in the form of special events.

One special event that I was witness to last week was this: I listened to and met the current Archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput (pronounced SHA-pyoo). In an email to me and other Assumption students, one professor wrote to us that Chaput “has even been touted as a future pope.” I’ll probably never meet the Pope, so meeting a potential Pope before he becomes Pope seemed like the next best thing.

Chaput is an interesting but controversial figure. Born a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe, Chaput was the Bishop of Rapid City, then the Archbishop of Denver, before being appointed by the current Pope Benedict XVI as the Archbishop of Philadelphia; he is the first Native American Archbishop. He is very outspoken about defending traditional Catholic values, and often comments on national American politics, and has publicly criticized politicians about their views on social issues. For instance, he’s been known for criticizing prominent politicians who support abortion, arguing that it is against Christian values.

I was hoping that when he came I would be able to interview him. I ended up emailing the events planner for Assumption, who emailed Chaput’s staff, and the day before he arrived, I got the a-okay to ask him a few questions after his interview with the Diocese of Springfield’s TV station.

Then his flight got delayed and missed that interview. No questions for me!

I did get to hear Reverend Chaput speak however at his planned lecture at Assumption, and it was indeed interesting.

At about 7 p.m. last Thursday, Chaput was introduced by our President, Francesco Cesareo, and then got up to the podium.

One of my first impressions? This guy sounds like an audio book. And I mean that in a good way.

Chaput was reading from a typed up speech he presumably had written. Now, normally I find that when people read from a written text, they are unnatural and uncomfortable. Chaput was incredibly smooth. I said he sounded like an audio book; it's a compliment. If I wrote a book, he’s one of the first people I would go to and say, “Your Excellency (what you're supposed to call an Archbishop), please read this,” aside from Gil Santos, Shaquille O’Neal, and anyone with a British accent. He never flubbed and kept the audience (of which there many adults outside the college who were in attendance) in rapt attention.

Not to mention, he was a funny and cordial guy. He’s not some very strict priest locked in an ivory tower. In fact, half way through the lecture, he was thirsty, and when all that was available were a couple of Red Bulls, he delightedly took one. Not what you'd expect from an Archbishop!

Anyway, our distinguished guest spoke of what he called: “Catholics in the Next America”, and it essentially was about what Chaput had become most famous for (or infamous in some eyes). Mixing Catholicism and politics.

Fifty years ago, Catholics were discriminated against politically (not to mention personally). Fifty years ago, there were fears no one would ever elect a Catholic like JFK for President, similar to fears three years ago that no one would ever elect an African-American like Barack Obama for President. A Catholic myself, I would have found it disgusting having to live 50 years ago and think that someone who’s running for President might not win just because he’s Catholic. Now, in our present time, we as a country have gotten over that obstacle by a long stretch. Not only have we’ve had two Catholic Speakers of the House in a row (Pelosi and Boehner), we have a Catholic Vice President (Biden), and Catholics make up a majority on the Supreme Court, as Chaput noted. Clearly, and thank God for it, no one’s discriminating against Catholics anymore.

However, Chaput said in his speech that although Catholics have made gains in the field of politics, traditional Catholics beliefs are being thrown by the wayside, and he argues that the country as a whole is faced with the choice of being religious or secular. America, in comparison to say, Europe, is highly religious, but trends indicate that the country is becoming more and more secular. Some rejoice at this, some are upset by this. But that’s clearly where we’re going, and we’re going to have square with that some day. Whatever you may feel about religion and politics, the country as a whole needs a general of sense of where is the proper role of each, and it doesn't seem at this time like we haven’t reached that consensus.

Chaput may or may not become the future pope, as Assumption advertised. He is after all, an American. Except for the last two popes, German and Polish respectively, most Popes have always been Italian. But considering the A) disarray Europe finds itself in, and B) the higher religiosity in the United States, the Catholic hierarchy may find that electing an American Bishop of Rome would be a good idea.

Maybe if becomes Pope he'll grant me that interview…