How to pray for the next pope
It shouldn't sound like children looking for The Perfect Nanny in "Mary Poppins"
Given the lightning-fast speed of news these days, I suppose it’s not surprising that already people are posting on social media their prayers for the next pope — specifically, the kind of person they are looking for to be the Successor of Peter.
They want more of this, less of that (insert required characteristics or liturgical leanings here). It reminds me of the movie “Mary Poppins,” when the young Banks children composed a letter describing what makes a perfect Nanny.
Well, we may have our biases and preferences. But I don’t think that’s the way to go about this. God has the last word.
Over at the USCCB website, there’s an excellent pdf file of notes for how to celebrate liturgies in the days to come — and it includes this succinct prayer in the Collect for Mass:
O God, eternal shepherd,
who govern your flock with unfailing care,
grant in your boundless fatherly love
a pastor for your Church
who will please you by his holiness
and to us show watchful care.
It also offers these suggestions for the Prayer of the Faithful:
That the College of Cardinals in its electoral process may be a worthy vehicle of God’s grace guiding the Church, let us pray to the Lord …
That the Holy Spirit will work strongly in the next Pope who will be elected by the College of Cardinals, let us pray to the Lord …
And there’s this advice at the end:
The faithful should be exhorted to offer their private prayers, works and almsgiving for the election of a new Supreme Pontiff. The simple custom of frequently praying the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for this intention is encouraged. The election of the new Pope should be prayed for in the recitation of the Rosary.
I think that says it all perfectly
I wrote a somewhat more verbose collect-style prayer for the school where I teach.
Lord Jesus, you chose Saint Peter as the rock of your Church
and entrusted to him the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
Down through the centuries, by Peter’s successors,
the popes, from Linus to Francis,
you have confirmed your Church in unity and truth.
Hear your Church’s prayers for the Cardinals
entrusted with choosing the next pope.
Through your Holy Spirit, guide them in their selection,
and bestow upon the man they choose every gift that is needful
for the good of your Church and of the whole world.
Let your Church on earth be the temporal sign of that eternal kingdom
where you live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God forever and ever. Amen.