Last Hurrah
Apr 19, 2005
You will recall that in 1978 a pope-apparent was passed over. And, as you must also know, this passed-over pope is still alive. It's time to right an old wrong.
(The New Republic, 04.15.05) Twenty-six years ago, Aloísio Lorscheider was a young hotshot--53 years old, Brazilian, and, of course, Catholic. Born in 1924, Lorscheider had been ordained at the age of 23, and things had only gotten better from there. By the 1970s, he'd become archbishop of Fortaleza in Brazil, and colleagues praised him for being hardworking and excellent with people. By 1976, he'd even been elevated to cardinal.
Only one promotion remained.
Lorscheider's opportunity came in 1978, when Pope Paul VI died at the age of 80. Many candidates for the papacy were discussed at the time, of course, and most of the rumored frontrunners were Italians--men like Cardinal Sergio Pignedoli, Cardinal Sebastiano Baggio, and Cardinal Ugo Poletti. But Lorscheider did manage to catch the eye of bookmakers: Ladbroke's of London, which favored Pignedoli at 5-2 odds, was quoting Lorscheider at a respectable 33-to-1. In the weeks that followed, according to an account of the conclave stitched together by Newsweek, Lorscheider advanced from two votes in round one (73 shy of the two-thirds-plus-one majority required) to 12 votes in round two (only 63 to go). By round three, it was clear that, well, someone else would win: an Italian by the name of Albino Luciani, who would become Pope John Paul I. But here's a footnote. Who had Luciani himself voted for, according to Newsweek? Aloísio Lorscheider.
Thirty-three days later, the job had, unluckily, opened up again. This time, Lorscheider should have been an even stronger contender. After all, the late Pope John Paul had favored him. But a cruel coincidence ruined the Brazilian's chances: Within hours of the fatal heart attack of John Paul, Lorscheider, too, suffered a heart attack of his own. This was no time for candidates with heart trouble, and Lorscheider was again passed over.
So much for that liability. Today, Lorscheider is 81 and, unlike his rivals from 1978, quite alive. (All right, in truth, one other semi-serious contender from 1978 survives--the 86-year-old Cardinal Salvatore Pappalardo of Sicily--but let's not spoil an otherwise perfect irony.)
In the 26 years since his defeat, Lorscheider has only improved, like a fine cachaça, or Brazilian sugarcane liquor. He's compassionate: Lorscheider cares deeply about the plight of the poor in his country and wishes the Church would care equally. "It is difficult for Rome to understand the situation here in Latin America," he complained in 1985. He's liberal-minded: When a fellow Franciscan named Leonardo Boff was summoned to the Vatican to answer for his liberation theology (a Church no-no), Lorscheider accompanied him and spoke in his defense. He's a reformer: The celibacy requirement for priests is, according to Lorscheider, "an anachronism." He's outspoken: In a 2001 interview with the French Catholic newspaper La Croix, he stated that the Pope was "a prisoner of circles that surround him and cut him off from the rank and file," adding that the decisions of Vatican II were "not being applied, and we all suffer, on the ground, from a distant bureaucracy that is increasingly deaf." He's unpredictable: On the topic of whether Pope John Paul I might have died of unnatural causes--one book has alleged poisoning by the mafia--Lorscheider told a magazine in 1998 that "I have to say that a suspicion remains in our hearts." (Unfortunately, he seems not to have elaborated.)
Oh, and one more thing: Heart condition or no, he can handle stress. In 1994, while paying a visit with Church officials to a Brazilian penitentiary by the name of Paulo Saraste, Lorscheider was abducted by prisoners making a jail break and held hostage. One Antonio Carlos Vieira (aka "Carioca"), of the gang Comando Vermelho, put a knife to Lorscheider's neck and used the cardinal and his colleagues as human shields to escape from jail along with 13 other prisoners. When Lorscheider was released the next day, his words to a waiting crowd were, "I had a little adventure." (At least nine of the prisoners were recaptured soon after, and Lorscheider, merciful as always, spoke of forgiveness and asked that they not be ill-treated.)
In sum, it's time to make the George McGovern of papal candidates--liberal noble elder who suffers defeat and outlives his rivals--Pope McGovern. The complaint that he won't live long enough doesn't hold up; we heard that one 26 years ago. What's more, short-lived elderly popes can be among the best. Witness the success of Pope John XXIII ("the good Pope"), who managed, in a pontificate that lasted less than five years, to launch the Second Vatican Council in 1962 and bring the Church into the modern world. So appealing is Lorscheider as a candidate that we can dispense with the customary paragraph of caveats so favored by TNR. Well, maybe we need two small caveats: He's probably not doing much to campaign for the job, and no one else seems to be backing him. But that's where TNR Conclave comes in--not so much for you, mortal reader, but for someone a bit higher up. True, He's generally less responsive than most of our readers, but at least He seldom writes to cancel His subscription.
Last Hurrah