When German sociologist Max Weber invented the constructed or ‘ideal type’ more than a century ago, he intended it to be a heuristic tool. It must be clear at the outset that an ‘ideal-type’ has no ethical connotation. Rather, it is a tool to compare social phenomena.
So, an ideal-type is a construct created to approximate reality by selecting and accentuating certain characteristics of a phenomenon or a personality; one can use it as a benchmark with which to compare phenomena, thus enabling a more systematic empirical analysis of both phenomena and social actors.
On September 1, Pope Francis publicly unveiled a list of 13 future cardinals, 10 of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave. Conservative elements in the US Church immediately saw this as a move by Pope Francis to perpetuate his legacy. Eureka! As if this measure is not taken by other popes? Have readers ever seen a ‘call for applications’ for a post at the Roman Curia?
The conservative Phil Lawler immediately wrote an article entitled ‘The new cardinals: Pope Francis bids for ‘irreversible change’’, while Dr Jeff Mirus saw red (no pun intended) in his article ‘Cardinal control: Is the Church’s future at stake?’
In my view, the Pope is free to choose cardinals whom he deems fit to help him in Church governance. What is most important is that the greatest glory of God and salus animarum remains the supreme ‘law’. Otherwise, the term ‘Servus Servorum Dei’ would be either fake or a joke. No servant is surrounded by a court!
When Jesus told the Apostles that he must suffer, be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes, and be killed, Peter took him aside to rebuke him. He had strong ‘dubium’! Isn’t this the way certain Catholics are treating Pope Francis? Jesus’s rejoinder to Peter was a rebuke: “Step aside, Satan! For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
At the peak of his ministry, although Jesus “knew that the Father had given him complete power… he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet”. This is the behaviour of the Son of God incarnate. One again, Peter objected strongly. Peter’s other ‘dubium’! Jesus plainly answered him: “If I do not wash your feet, you will no longer be my disciple.”
In a similar vein, Paul instructed Timothy (5:9-11) to choose those who were well known for good deeds, feeding strangers, washing the feet of the saints, helping the afflicted, and devoting themselves to good work.
If one were to look at the qualities of the newly-elected cardinals, one can construct an ‘ideal’-type (in the sense explained above) of a cardinal who shares Pope Francis’s charisma, ecclesiology, anthropology and world-view.
Hence, in my view, a cardinal should be a man of dialogue, even with non-Christian religions such as Islam; a spiritual mentor who is concerned about making the Gospel accessible to all; an advocate of a decentralised Church with a culture of openness; a patient rebuilder of the Church through programmes of evangelisation through catechesis and works of charity; a staunch defender of the people, especially poor and indigenous people; a person who transmits the Word of God in a Church that is in crisis; a tireless opposer – to the extent of receiving death threats – of multinational corporations, especially those destroying the environment; a ‘bishop of the poor’, especially the marginalised, migrants and refugees, who shares in their struggle for peace, while defending human rights.
Fr Joe Inguanez is a priest and sociologist.