The Next Pope

The next Pope will surely influence my spiritual journey. Taking into account the fascinating dialogue between Amanda Borschel-Dan and Lazar Berman in yesterday's Times of Israel podcast titled "Day 565 | Why Pope's final Gaza statements won't heal rift with Israel," I am framing my prayers for the next pope as a decision between Cardinal Pizzaballa and Cardinal Sarah. Today I noted Latin patriarch of Jerusalem among candidates to succeed Pope Francis | The Times of Israel and Pope Francis' possible replacement: Anti-woke Cardinal Robert Sarah's top quotes | Fox News. Cardinal Sarah underscores my faith that Messianic celibacy is a gift from God, not a pathology. But from an ecumenical perspective, I support married clergy and women bishops, too, at least in the non-Catholic branches of the Church. I am not sure if we need more celibate clergy in Protestantism, more married clergy in Catholicism, more of the status quo, or more ecumenical unity. Perhaps we need a bit of all four, to some degree. This is something to pray on.