And now, how will the Church and its sons receive the new Pope? Who will be the new Pope? Everybody says he will be from South America to fight American capitalism. Not all places in South America are safe, people are poor and angry. Fighting capitalism in those countries means also fighting capitalism in North America, but there capitalism has never persecuted the Church (in the States there are many different Churches), so the Vatican could provoke a fracture. It’s a confused situation that I’m not able to understand, because I don’t know the history very well, and from the religious point of view Christianity in South America is not so worn-out. I mean, there are worst places. I think that the Church has to choose another strong figure of Pope, otherwise no one will ever listen to him, because John Paul II was too popular and too deep-rooted in the hearts of the Christians. Karol Wojtyla faced the true problem for the Church of Communism in Eastern Europe. The problem was real... he was shot! I think the Church, if it wants to survive, should meet the Middle East. A Pope from Lebanon, or from Iraq or Afghanistan, why not? A Crusader Pope!
At the very beginning of his pontificate John Paul II told his Christians to grant admission to Christ. Still people follow his words and exchange peace with everyone (Christ=the first “brother” you meet), doing with faith, without considering the risks of this “free peace”. I’m heathen and I personally think that the Christian Faith is a blind serenity (I hope no one will be offended), watching from the outside I still don’t understand the motivation for being Christian in Europe, but as a heathen I learned that when someone, for some reason, wants to make a benediction to you with all the best intentions, you should accept, because this won’t change you and your identity, if you don’t want to change, but it will enrich you. I found myself, because my mother wanted to go there, at Westminster Cathedral in London. There I saw a group of black women attending the mass. It was time for blessing and peace exchange. One of them called me, she told me “Come on, come here!”. I understood that I was falling into prejudice which is one of the most wrong errors for a racialist, I think. I think a racialist should be prudent but never have prejudice. I don’t know which thoughts passed in the mind of that black woman, but these were mine (I’m sure they were different from hers) when I decided to give her my hand trying to communicating them to her: “This is my hand, as a dialogue between us. I want to be respected and I want to respect you, in peace as in war. True rules between us.” Pope John Paul II has been a mighty leader, who has been able to put together people from all nationalities and races under one god, but then there are people like me in Europe, people that want to keep a clear identity and this is inconciliable with the Church and with Christianity.
My final question is: how long will this structure of the Church resist? Old women say “When a Pope dies, another is done”... for ever?