Interregnum

Interregnum – INQ7.net is my column for today.

In BusinessWorld Online, Manuel Buencamino discusses the anti Terrorism bill.

A Catholic Reporter based in Rome will most likely start providing interesting reports from there in The Word From Rome April 1, 2005. The detail of his reportage, though a bit dated in comparison to expectations of real-time reporting on the internet, is shown in the following snippet from The Word From Rome April 1, 2005:

Even with a pope in the flush of health, it would strain credibility to believe that he was personally responsible for all this activity. Given John Paul’s current fatigue and weakness, however, it is all the more impossible to maintain that the pope himself is personally engaged in the details of all these appointments and texts.

From the testimony of everyone who has seen him during this period, it’s clear that Pope John Paul II retains full lucidity and is capable of saying “yes”? or “no”? to proposals placed before him, and can still add some characteristic personal touches. At the same time, however, everyone concedes that, increasingly, the bulk of the work is being performed by others.

So, the $64,000 question: Who are these others? Who’s really running the show?

By general agreement, while all papal acts are equal, some are more equal than others. The church could survive for a year, for example, without another encyclical, or another beatification, or another papal trip. It would be difficult, however, to imagine a year without the appointment of a bishop, which would in effect leave hundreds of dioceses leaderless. It would also be difficult to go a year without some direction from the pope on matters of topical interest, where there is a danger of rifts or confusion about where the church stands.

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

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