Benedict has again shown why he is more moderate than John Paul. First he met with Hans Kung, then he let a synod of bishops meeting in Rome talk about whatever they wanted to for a day (neither of these things were ever allowed by John Paul), and now he has reversed John Paul's regulation changes regarding how a pope is elected. Surprisingly, I have not seen this reported on the US Bishops media outlet, Catholicnews.com, but had to get it off the AP wire.
JPII had made the terrible change in 1996 to allow a pope to be elected by simple majority if he could not be elected by a two-thirds majority after 33 rounds of voting. This would have allowed for a very conservative man to be elected during the next papal conclave. All a ultra-conservative block of cardinals would have to do is wait out 33 rounds of voting. And I believe this is what JP wanted. Benedict is giving us all chance by forcing the next conclave to compromise and choose someone a little more to the center. A few years ago I wouldn't have said this, but hopefully we will get someone similar to Benedict, who appears to a be true bridgebuilder.
A Faithful Catholic
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