(English text after the Italian)

The Holy Spirit, The conclave and the election of the Roman Pontiff bishop of Rome

A soma animal cannot aspire to become a racing horse. Grace perfects the nature that exists in man, but it can't distort it, because it does not go beyond nature that is not there, So teaches the wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas.

- Church news -

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Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Cap.

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In time of vacancies, The fever of the conclave infects everyone: Both believers and non -believers are careful not to follow the prudent protocol of a "vigilant expectation" and everyone launches into predictions that mostly reflect their personal desires to outline the profile of the next vicar of Christ.

Among the various fans how not to include romantics, those who insist on arguing that the new pope will be elected by the Holy Spirit in person. that way, This concept means little or nothing, If not for a certain trusty coloring. but yet, If we go deeper than the thought of these simple souls we will discover that this idea sounds like a sort of insurance policy that should make cardinal voters and the people of God safe from unfortunate or embarrassing situations. For charity, A legitimate position which, however, does not take into account the dynamics with which the Holy Spirit actually acts in the history of man really, Just as he acted in the life of the Lord Jesus and the Church in his two thousand years.

Example: If we take the genealogy of the Gospels, We can perhaps say that within that story of those names made of specific events the action of the Holy Spirit has always been present? My old professor of fundamental morality - Jesuit shrewd of the old company of Jesus - would have replied: "Yes and no". Would have said Yes for the fact that the result of genealogy and the person of Jesus born from Mary, no for the fact that among those cited people who have built the historical scaffolding, Relational and family that has allowed the embodiment of the verb we must detect numerous and abundant fragility and resistance to grace that are not at all new in the history of man.

Someone could objectively object, "Well, Oh well, The important thing is the final result ", This is true as long as we talk about Christ and as long as we take him as a last reference, But when there is man this is still true? To go even deeper, After the ascension of the Lord, The ground time of the Risen One ends and the time of the Church begins, in which they are men, Apostles and disciples of Christ, to carry on a deposit that was entrusted to him by the Master. The book of the acts of the apostles shows us several times that the trend of the Church has not always been peaceful and without problems, Even after Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit. And over time, The situation has not changed much. We must be honest in considering the Holy Spirit not as a severe tutor that leads obtorto neck his disciple by force of slap but like an wise and prudent pedagogue that leaves a lot of space and freedom to his disciple always staying a few steps from him, Also allowing the healthy and inevitable falls.

This means in a nutshell? It means that - as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said in 1997 - The Holy Spirit does not intervene with his finger of fire in the Sistine chapel indicating the candidate for which he should vote, But intervenes in the mind of the cardinals with a fair human and historical discernment oriented to choose the candidate who debates between the banks of the "worst" and the "slightly less worse". Beyond the joke, The history of the Church teaches that among the various vicars of Christ not all of them were the champions and the pious, rather. Some have done a lot of damage - it is undeniable - but at the same time they have also been able to give the Church something good in the times when they lived and exercised the Petrine Ministry, In this we can certainly see the action of the Holy Spirit, In that little good that has not been completely ruined by bulky personalities and social and political interference together with sympathies and human alliances.

This is precisely the elasticity that the Holy Spirit exercises in the Church without depriving the man of his freedom and without coating him to the good. Next to the Holy Spirit-let's face it once-there is also the anti-Spriter that makes many cantonate take and resides in the stubbornness of the man who wants to make his own head relegating the Holy Spirit to the only time of the song of the I came Creator.

Attribute to the Holy Spirit everything that happens inside a conclave or during a celebration of a synod or a chapter it would be pure superstition and naivety. We have to dare and be sufficiently sorted in recognizing that the anti-Spite works months earlier to guide the fate of an event, It matters little if it is a conclave or a condominium meeting.

The hope that we all nourish it is that the Holy Spirit can speak to the heart of the cardinals making the truth shine and together by instilling the courage of a change or the beginning of a new move. A high -speed train cannot be stopped in a bang, It needs time and maneuvering space. So it is in the Church, There is always a need for a reversal of course and a conversion but nothing can happen suddenly or after a conclave. Often, It is the story that tells us, The damage done by some popes needed years to be repaired, Other times decades, sometimes, to remedy, It was necessary to convene an ecumenical council. Or perhaps we want to forget that both the Lateran Council is the Council of Trento, They were also the consequence of several not particularly recommended popes that have followed between poorly built political events, Power struggles, financial intrallazzi and simonia?

The 7 May the conclave will begin, The human matter within which the next vicar of Christ will be chosen is represented by the Cardinal College made, as in the case of genealogy, of men who know little about each other, fragile and sometimes refractory to grace. This must not be a reason for discouragement, but only of healthy realism. A soma animal cannot aspire to become a racing horse. Grace perfects the nature that exists in man, but it can't distort it, because it does not go beyond nature that is not there, So teaches the wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas: «Grace does not preclude nature but it perfects» (QUESTION, I, I, 8 ad 2). The Holy Spirit is not the magic wand that automatically and unquestionably dictates the right choices but is the attentive observer of man's dialogue with God, It is there to support this dialogue for the good of the Church and for the salvation of man. But when the man explodes from his accompaniment here we experience all the inconvenience of destabilizing and divisive choices. In this case - as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said - the only security that the Holy Spirit offers is that between the various falls and stubborn of man and the Church, everything does not come totally and irreparably ruined.

In short, The Holy Spirit has yet to put us na 'pezza, We trust in this with the wisdom of the Roman people, with which we agree when he says that "a pope died always another". This is encouraging, This we want and together we hope that the next Roman Pontiff bishop of Rome will be given by God, not tolerated for human agreements, nor inflicted as the result of the Entes.

Sanluri, 30 April 2025

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THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE CONCLAVE AND THE ELECTION OF THE ROMAN PONTIFF BISHOP OF ROME

A pack animal cannot aspire to become a racehorse. Grace perfects the nature that exists in man, but cannot denature it, because it does not go beyond the nature that does not exist, as the wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas teaches.

— Ecclesial actuality —

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Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Cap.

In times of vacant see, the fever of the Conclave infects everyone: both believers and non-believers are careful not to follow the prudent protocol of “watchful waiting” and everyone launches into predictions that mostly reflect their own personal desires to outline the profile of the next Vicar of Christ.

Among the various fans, how can we not include the romantics, those who insist on maintaining that the new Pope will be elected by the Holy Spirit himself. Said in this way, this concept means little or nothing, if not for a certain fideistic coloration. Yet, if we delve deeper into the thinking of these simple souls, we will discover that this idea sounds like a sort of insurance policy that should protect the cardinal electors and the People of God from unpleasant or embarrassing situations. A legitimate position that however does not take into account the dynamics with which the Holy Spirit actually acts in the history of man, just as he acted in the life of the Lord Jesus and of the Church in its two thousand years.

Example: if we take the Genealogy of the Gospels, can we perhaps say that within that history of those names made up of specific events the action of the Holy Spirit has always been present? My old professor of fundamental morality — a shrewd Jesuit of the old school by Company of Jesus — would have answered: “Yes and no”. He would have said yes because the result of the Genealogy is the person of Jesus born of Mary, no because among those people cited who built the historical, relational and family scaffolding that allowed the incarnation of the Word we must note numerous and abundant fragilities and resistances to grace that are not at all new in the history of man.

Someone might hastily object, «Well, okay, the important thing is the final result», this is true as long as we talk about Christ and as long as we take him as the final reference, but when there is man is this still true? To go even deeper, after the Ascension of the Lord, the earthly time of the Risen One ends and the time of the Church begins, in which it is men, apostles and disciples of Christ, who carry forward a deposit that was entrusted to them by the Master. The book of the Acts of the Apostles shows us several times that the progress of the Church has not always been peaceful and free of problems, even after Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit. And over time, the situation has not changed much. We must be honest in considering the Holy Spirit not as a severe tutor who reluctantly leads his disciple by force of slaps but as a wise and prudent pedagogue who leaves a lot of space and freedom to his disciple by always remaining a few steps away from him, even allowing for healthy and inevitable falls.

What does this mean in a nutshell? It means that — as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said in 1997 — the Holy Spirit does not intervene with his fiery finger in the Sistine Chapel indicating the candidate for whom one should vote, but intervenes in the minds of the cardinals with a discreet human and historical discernment aimed at choosing the candidate who is torn between the shores of “worse” and “slightly less worse”. Beyond the bad joke, the history of the Church teaches that among the various Vicars of Christ not all have been champions and pious, on the contrary. Some have done a lot of damage — it is undeniable — but at the same time they have also been able to give the Church something good in the times in which they lived and exercised the Petrine ministry, in this we can certainly see the action of the Holy Spirit, in that little bit of good that has not been completely ruined by cumbersome personalities and by social and political interference together with human sympathies and alliances.

This is the elasticity that the Holy Spirit exercises in the Church without depriving man of his freedom and without forcing him to do good. Alongside the Holy Spirit there is also the anti-spirit that causes so many blunders and resides in the stubbornness of man who wants to do things his own way, relegating the Holy Spirit to the sole moment of singing the I came Creator.

To attribute to the Holy Spirit everything that happens inside a Conclave or during a celebration of a Synod or a Chapter would be pure superstition and naivety. We must dare and be sufficiently shrewd to recognize that the anti-spirit works months in advance to direct the fate of an event, it matters little whether it is a Conclave or a condominium meeting.

The hope we all have is that the Holy Spirit can speak to the hearts of the cardinals, making the Truth shine and at the same time instilling the courage to change or begin a new step. A high-speed train cannot be stopped suddenly, it needs time and room to maneuver. So it is in the Church, there is always a need for a change of direction and a conversion but nothing can happen suddenly or after a Conclave. Often, history tells us, the damage done by some Popes has taken years to repair, other times decades, sometimes, to remedy it, it has been necessary to convene an ecumenical council. Or perhaps we want to forget that both the Fourth Lateran Council and the Council of Trent were also the consequence of several not particularly recommendable Pontiffs who followed one another amidst less than edifying political events, power struggles, financial intrigues and simony?

The Conclave will begin on May 7th. The human matter within which the next Vicar of Christ will be chosen is represented by the College of Cardinals made up, as in the case of the Genealogy, of men who know little about each other, fragile and sometimes refractory to grace. This should not be a reason for discouragement, but only for healthy realism. A pack animal cannot aspire to become a racehorse. Grace perfects the nature that exists in man, but cannot denature it, because it does not go beyond the nature that does not exist, as the wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas teaches: "Grace does not preclude nature but it perfects" (QUESTION, I, I, 8 ad 2). The Holy Spirit is not the magic wand that automatically and unquestionably dictates the right choices but is the attentive observer of the dialogue of man with God, he is there to support this dialogue for the good of the Church and for the salvation of man. But when man separates himself from his accompaniment, we experience all the discomforts of destabilizing and divisive choices. In this case — as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said — the only security that the Holy Spirit offers is that among the various falls and stubbornness of man and the Church, everything will not be totally and irreparably ruined.

The Holy Spirit still has to patch us up, we trust in this with the wisdom of the Roman people, with whom we agree when they say that «when a Pope dies, another is always made». This is encouraging, this is what we desire and together we hope that the next Roman Pontiff Bishop of Rome will be given by God, not tolerated by human agreements, nor inflicted as the result of the anti-spirit.

Sanluri, April 30, 2025

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