Students Ponder Ideal Pontiff

For most Southern California teenagers, the conclave to elect a new pope -- which begins today -- is not high on the list of daily concerns that includes SAT scores, prom dates and the latest episode of “The O.C.”

But there are some exceptions. They can be seen at an all-boys parochial boarding school just outside Lake Forest in Orange County, where students formally pray twice daily for the Holy Spirit to guide the College of Cardinals in picking a pope.

And others can be heard in lunchtime conversations at an all-girls Catholic high school in Anaheim, where students are still getting over the loss of the only pope they had known.

The two schools, 30 miles apart and educating children of different sexes, illustrate how united members of the next generation of Roman Catholic adults are in the basic traits they want to see in the pontiff. These attributes include strict adherence to Catholic doctrine, respect for other faiths, media skills and roots outside of Western Europe and the U.S.

“We want someone who understands suffering and doesn’t try to flee it so they feel better,” said Thomas Cox, 17, a senior at St. Michael’s Preparatory High School.

But the students’ wishes for the next pope also reflect divisions within the church. They disagree on whether the pontiff should elevate the role of women in the church or allow for discussion of married priests, abortion and birth control.

“I’m not saying ‘Be liberal,’ ” said Faith Reynado, a senior at Cornelia Connelly School of the Holy Child in Anaheim. “But don’t be so close-minded.”

Debates, the 18-year-old from Garden Grove added, would help clarify the church’s position on issues such as abortion. And more flexibility during services -- a wider variety of music, for example -- would help keep the younger generation in church, she said.

There’s one other thing they agree on: Their interest in the election of the pope puts them in the minority of students, even at their Catholic high schools.

“There are some students who couldn’t give two hoots,” said Thomas Dudro, 17, a junior at St. Michael’s, a boarding school run by priests of the conservative Norbertine order. But he is among those who are keenly interested.

“A pope from the East -- Russia, Greece, Turkey, Egypt -- could help unite the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches,” said John Barthelette, 19, a senior from Rialto, referring to the 1,000-year schism between two branches of Catholicism.

Barthelette was one of half a dozen boys who recently discussed the qualities they would like to see in a new Catholic leader. They wore uniforms of gray slacks, button-down shirts, ties and blue blazers.

The boys prefaced their views about the next pope by saying that the Holy Spirit would guide the election process and the right man would be picked.

“No matter where we might see the church go, we must have faith in the Holy Spirit,” said Paul Ledbetter, 17, a senior from Colorado.

But the boys, nearly all self-described conservatives, have their own ideas of what would make the next pope great.

Dudro, from San Francisco, said a pontiff from Africa, where Catholicism is on the rise, would “add a lot to the vitality to the church. Africa is where the faith is still simple, orthodox and traditional.”

They said the pope shouldn’t waver -- or even open discussion -- on the basic tenets of Catholicism and should maintain an all-male priesthood and a ban on abortion and birth control.

“We don’t discuss faith and morals,” said Cox, of La Mirada. “They are set.”

And they said the pontiff should see that orthodox Catholic teaching was promoted within U.S. dioceses, even if that meant removing liberal American bishops.

“The pope needs to do a more disciplined job to keep them on a straight path,” Dudro said.

Barthelette agreed that the next pope should stress orthodoxy in the U.S. but should not do so “acrimoniously.”

The students also said the pope must be media savvy and a world traveler, not only to reach out to Catholics but also to bridge divisions with people of other faiths.

“And a younger pope would be a good image for the church,” Cox said.

At the all-girls campus, five high school students spent a recent lunch hour talking about what they’d like to see in the next pope, difficult though it was to think of anyone but John Paul II as pontiff.

“This is the only pope we know,” said Elisabeth Hoey, 18, a senior from Fullerton. “It was just a shock. How are we going to replace him?”

The girls, dressed in school uniforms of pleated skirts or khaki pants and assorted shirts, were generally less conservative than their counterparts at St. Michael’s. They said issues that have divided the church should be open for discussion.

“Tradition is what connects the Catholic Church,” said Liz Lazzari, 17, a senior from Seal Beach. “But there has to be a way for new ideas to penetrate” the institution.

For example, she said, she wondered if it was fair that diocesan priests didn’t take a vow of poverty as nuns must.

The girls also said larger roles for women should be created within the church and the possibility of female priests should be debated.

This kind of change will take time, said Stephanie Mitri, 16, a sophomore from Garden Grove, so the ideal pope would be “younger than 70.”

But Lazzari cautioned that “if they can’t find someone who they are raving about,” maybe an older pope would be good choice.

Lazzari said she hoped the next pope would have a special affinity for the U.S. and could help the country shed “its reputation as being lightweight intellectuals and materialistic” by, among other things, appointing stronger bishops who could show the faithful how to live in harmony with Vatican teachings.

“We can start with our cardinals,” she said.

The girls weren’t as emphatic that the church would benefit from a pope from somewhere other than Western Europe.

“I don’t think it matters where he comes from,” Hoey said.

Added Mitri: “He just needs to be the people’s pope.”