By Walter Wilson Nana
Buea, Cameroon
The countdown to the election of a new Pope to lead the estimated 1.2 billion catholic Christians across the world is generating a lot of excitement in many quarters. In the media, laity and clergy circles much is been said. In the build up to the holding of the conclave of 117 Cardinals to elect a new Pope, Bishop Immanuel Bushu of Buea Diocese said in this exclusive interview that the election of a Pope is guided by the Holy Spirit and nothing else.
Excerpts:
How is Mgr Bushu and the Diocese of Buea faring?
I am doing fine and the Diocese too.
Pope Benedict XVI is the first Head of the Roman Catholic Church to step down in 700 years. What motivated this action?
Mgr. Immanuel Bushu
He has said, clearly that it is a very personal decision, after a lot of prayers for more than a year, his capacity to work as the head of the catholic church is not there anymore. So, he thought that it will be good to step down so that a younger person can take control of the activities of the church.
This shock announcement of February 10 2013 sparked mixed reactions with some faithful saying they expected Pontiffs to serve the church until their natural deaths. How will you react to that?
Ordinary there is nothing that bad. That is what obtains and has been obtaining for the past 700 years. Pope Benedict XVI wrote out his text in the Church’s language – Latin and read it out himself, following Canon Law 332 Paragraph 2 which states that In the case of a Pope stepping down, he should write that clearly and publish it, make it known officially. That is what Pope Benedict XVI did. He informed the Cardinals and for the journalists to take on the chorus. That’s why the whole world knows about it now. There is nothing hidden about it. He wrote it himself. Read it out himself. If there were doubts or anything for people to ask, there was chance for that. He is surprising people because our memories are short. We do not realise that has happen in the Church a few times already. He is free to do as he has done.
How will react to Western Media reports saying the Pope has been under pressure to resign following sex abuse in the church?
No! No! Those allegations have always been there. They are true but I think that they have been blown out of context. There are people who are out to say things against the church. When you examine most of the things said, they mean nothing. What can you do? People are free to say what they want to say. The church does not fall for things like that. They will say it and with time, it will be discovered that it was all baseless. Novelty seems to be driving the media, which is not reality. There is a lot of that in the big Western Media but it shows that the church is not a small group. The church is very powerful, anything that happens to it, it becomes a news item for the media, in which they make their money from. So, they are interested to spread the information to the world.
Some of the Western Media houses are pointing fingers to some Cardinals in the US and Scotland, alleged to be involved in sexual abuse scandals, saying they (these Cardinals) should not be part of the 117 Cardinals for the upcoming conclave. Can civil society pressure bear on these Cardinals not to be present at the Conclave?
The mass media are overstepping their bounds. When they accuse you of some of these things, you will realise later that there is really nothing gone wrong. In your role as a spiritual leader for the spiritual and moral development of the people, you find it difficult to go on, even if it is found out that what the media said is not true. It could be something you have never even thought of it. Sometime the best way to go about it is to resign, even if you did it or not. Pressure cannot be put on church leaders from outside. That cannot be possible.
After Thursday, February 28 2013, how are we going to refer to Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). Will he have a new title?
For long we’ve never had a thing like that in the church. But the Cardinals and Bishops do resign or retire. According to Canon Law, he will be called Emeritus. Pope Emeritus will be the right title, unless a new title is coined for him. But the normal Canonical appellation for him to have left the Holy See is Pope Emeritus.
Will he continue to wear the Papal Whites?
Yes, he will wear them. He is still Pope just that he is not looking after the church officially. He will wear his regular attire as a Pope Emeritus, just as our Bishops and Cardinals Emeritus. When they retire, they retain the vestures they have had as servants of the church.
From Friday, March 1 2013, what happens? How will activities in the Vatican go?
Those once I do not know for sure now. I have not been made known for sure and clearly what happens. It has been said here and there that the conclave will hold shortly after he retires. It may start early so that by mid March, we may have a new Pope. I am saying this by speculation. I don’t have all the facts yet, what happens immediately he retires. He leaves the Vatican, Thursday, February 28 2013 and goes to the Papal Residence at Castel Gandolfo, in the west of the hills in the city of Rome overlooking St. Peter’s Basilica, for about two months before coming back to a monastery within the Vatican walls. That is where he will spend the rest of his time.
There are doubts that some Cardinals may not make it to Rome for the conclave (one from Indonesia on poor health and the other from the US, linked with sexual abuse scandals). If they don’t, what happens to the expected 117 number of Cardinals?
There will be no obstruction whatsoever. Those who come will do the job. It is not that all must be there a hundred percent. If it is said that several Cardinals are sick, they will not keep the church waiting because it will not be known when they will come. Those who come will do the voting.
In the interim before election of a new Pope, the church will be run by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, very close to Pope Benedict XVI. Is he open for the election?
Yes, if he is not above 80. Normally, there is a Dean of College of Cardinals, who is the person with the highest age. That is what the present Pope was, he was the oldest at that time, he takes over immediately when the Pope is not there with the collaborators of the Pope in the various congregations and institutes.
How should Christians manage the media frenzy that is ongoing as the world looks on to the coming of a new Pope?
The media is a great thing we have of the world of today, but it should not control us. We have heard what the Pope himself has said. Let’s keep to that. We shouldn’t listen too much to what the media is saying. They are searching for their news items. Listen to the radio, watch TV, read the papers but a good part of them are not useful. Those are personal opinions that do not tally with the situation the church is going through. The Pope has told us that we should pray for him, pray for the person who is to be chosen that God will show the one He has chosen from all eternity to look after the church after him. That is what happens all the time. That is all we need to worry about. It is prayers that really matters. We can change nothing. We should not give ourselves to unnecessary rumour mongering, and debating on things that are sometimes not very useful. For the ordinary Christian, we keep calm, we pray for the outgoing Pope and for a new and powerful person, who will be able to handle the affairs of the church in the 21st century. We hold strongly that the Holy Spirit chooses. It is and will be the Holy Spirit that chooses. When the spirit is choosing, the human element is not always there. In the end, it is always the spirit that chooses.
Bishop Immanuel Balanjo Bushu of the Diocese of Buea, Cameroon, what kind of a Pope are you looking forward to after Thursday, February 28 2013?
We’re always looking for a Pope who is catholic in his life, the way he lives, in his teaching, in his direction of the church’s affairs. We look for that simply because he is an instrument in the hands of the Holy Spirit. Jesus in going to Heaven tells us that He would be with His church till the end, till he comes back. Each time a Pope is chosen, he is the right person for that moment, it doesn’t matter who he is. That person has just one key thing to do in the church, even though he has millions of others to do. We will be praying. That’s my own way of looking at it. God will give us again a great person to lead the flock in the Catholic Church as the others have done. We’ve seen great people like Pope Paul VI; we have seen a giant like Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI who has been a heavy weight in the church too. He has been one of the greatest minds of the church as far as things of God are concerned. He is one of our leading theologians now. We hope that God will give us a leader who is as great as the recent Popes of the world.
Thank you Bishop Bushu!
You are welcome!
Interviewed by Walter Wilson Nana
