Confessing Evangelical

As Pr McCain points out, the individuals holding the office of Pope have not always been, how can I put this, men of impressive sanctity. As Michael Farquhar puts it in the Washington Post article posted by Pr McCain, "in some of the most colorful elections of the past, the Holy Spirit seems to have taken a holiday".

Well, maybe. But one prominent cardinal - George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney - has a different explanation. It turns out the Holy Spirit wasn't on holiday when the likes of Rodrigo Borgia bribed his way to the papal throne - He was just having an off day:

GEORGE NEGUS: Cardinal, I don’t mean this in a facetious or a sacrilegious way, but how does the Holy Spirit guide people like yourself in the conclave when there has to be politics involved, there has to be ideology involved, there has to be numbers involved, is the Holy Spirit a good political numbers man?

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL: No, sometimes He gets it right, sometimes He gets it wrong. But the Holy Spirit always works through free individuals. We try to listen to one another, we try to think, we try to discern what the church needs and to come to some consensus. The Holy Spirit only works through humans and through natural means generally. I’ve received no special inspiration.

GEORGE NEGUS: It’s interesting though you said sometimes the Holy Spirit can get it wrong?

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL: Yes, well there have been bad popes in history.

I'm lost for words.

Hat-tip to Couldn't Help Noticing.