Two bets I lost back in March 2013

This week’s column in The Kerryman newspaper.

Michael Commane

Pinned under a hook on my kitchen wall are two betting slips. One is dated March 4, 2013, the other slip March 7, 2013. I put €10 on Christoph Schönborn at 12/1on March 4 and €5 on Mauro Piacenza at 50/1 on March 7.

I lost both bets. On March 13 Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope.

At the time Schönborn, who is a Dominican, was archbishop in Vienna and considered to be on the liberal wing of the church. 

Piacenza was seen as a traditionalist and was a cardinal in the Vatican. I was hoping Schönborn might get the job. I’d met him once or twice. He had studied with the German Dominicans near Bonn, a place where I had spent many happy days.

I can still vividly remember Pope Francis on the night of his election, wishing the people buonasera. It was my first time to hear a pope sounding so ordinary and friendly. He simply wished the crowd good evening. 

On that evening an Argentinian Dominican, Javier Pose, who knew Francis from Buenos Aires, while watching events unfold on television with fellow Dominicans, quietly said: ‘There will be surprises.’ There have been many.

I’m writing these words with Pope Francis in hospital. He has had pneumonia but is sitting up and eating his food. The man is 88, he’s grown frail of late, so naturally the situation is precarious. There have been many occasions when Pope Francis has made me smile. 

During his 12-year pontificate he has given me hope. He has said and done things that make me feel good in my skin being a Catholic. There is something gentle about him, a sensitive, intelligent man who listens to the views and concerns of other people. But I also know that he is no walk over and when decisions have to be made he makes them, but in consultation with other people. He has appointed forward-looking men as bishops, especially in the US, where there are worrying divisions between liberal and conservative thinking.

He has appointed women to senior jobs in the Vatican and of course the Synod has been his idea. Its purpose has been to bring people together, to listen and learn. It has been an attempt at reaching out to those on the margins, genuinely listening to their hopes, dreams and concerns. It’s work in progress.

In the very days that Pope Francis finds himself in hospital ‘Conclave’ the screen adaptation of Robert Harris’ novel of the same name wins top awards. The film is about the election of a pope and all the intrigue that that involves. 

Whatever happens Pope Francis in the days ahead  I’m delighted we have been blessed having him our pope.

I hope it’s not indecent to talk about the next election, but I can’t see myself placing a bet next time, whenever the time comes. 

I know Timothy Radcliffe, who was made a cardinal in September. He is a Dominican and I would love to see him pope, but he’ll be 80 in August and that’s too old for the job. It would  make no sense putting a fiver on him.

Thank you Francis and keep going as long as God allows you.