GR Bishop: Pope should be 'good pastor'

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Excitement is rising around the world as the conclave, the historic ritual to elect a new pope, begins at the Vatican Tuesday, when Catholic cardinals will take their first vote.

In Grand Rapids Monday, Bishop Walter Hurley said it once took three years to elect a pope. In modern times, however, two to four days is the norm as the cardinals cast ballots in private.

It takes a two-thirds majority of the votes of 77 cardinals to elect the new pope.

"I think they need to be everything that a good pastor is. He is concerned about the whole Church and not just particular parts of the Church. That he has some administrative skills and that he is a faithful and prayerful man who can proclaim the gospel," Hurley told 24 Hour News 8. "And who has a certain charisma about him that makes his personality attractive to the people he deals with."

Hurley believes that with instant communication and easy travel, the personal magnetism of the pope is even more important now than it was in the distant history of the Church.

"Perhaps one of the major challenges is the fact that we live in a very secular world that doesn't recognize very much the place of God in public life. So the Church in many ways has lost its voice in the public forum, the public square. So it becomes important to have someone to re-engage, if you will, the Church and re-engage the gospel message with our society," said Hurley.

Hurley said Catholics locally likely won't see changes in their day-to-day lives because of a new pope. But he says the new pope will have an impact on all parishioners in another way because everyone wants to be proud of their faith and their Church leaders.