Eight reasons Oullet is a perfect pick for pope

There is a saying, one of many in Rome, that he who enters a conclave as pope leaves as a cardinal.

By that standard, Cardinal Marc Ouellet needn’t worry about the outcome. As one of the early favourites he doesn’t stand a chance of becoming the first non-European pope in nearly 1,500 years, and the first in history from the Americas. And a Canadian one at that.

Still, it’s not hard to see why the oddsmakers, media and papal pundits fancy his chances to succeed Benedict XVI, who resigned in February. One doesn’t campaign for the office, that’s considered unseemly, but there are lots of opportunities for meeting and greeting in a papal interregnum. And Ouellet has a lot going for him.

First, he’s a reliable theological conservative, and that’s what this College of Cardinals wants. The last two popes, Benedict and John Paul II, have packed the college with doctrinal conservatives over the last 35 years, reversing the liberal appointments of John XXIII and Paul VI.

Second, Ouellet is a linguist, fluent in six languages, who could truly speak urbi et orbi to the city and the world. For those who remember the first appearance of the Polish pope on the Vatican balcony in 1978, “be not afraid,” it was the beginning of the modern papacy in the sense that he set a standard for communicating in many languages.

Third, Ouellet is young enough, at 68, that like Karol Wojtyla he could reign in good health for many years. If not, well, Benedict has just set the very useful precedent of the first papal abdication in nearly six centuries because of his declining health. It can be said that nothing more became his pontificate than the dignified and courageous manner of his leaving it.

Fourth, Ouellet has worked both sides of the street, as the cardinal archbishop of Quebec and as the head of the Congregation of Bishops in Rome. This means he understands the challenges of running an archdiocese, as well as the papal bureaucracy in Rome. A pope is expected to be more than a holy man. He’s also CEO of an organization, steeped in Vatican intrigue, that works in ways mysterious to outsiders. Not to Ouellet.

Fifth, he’s worked in the field, in his own words “as a missionary,” teaching in Colombia in Latin America, one of two continents (the other being Africa) where the Roman Catholic Church is growing rather than shrinking.

Sixth, he represents the new world. The Italians may not get the papacy back, but they’re probably not inclined to elect a third non-Italian European in a row. The odds on that are very long.

Seventh, he would be a smiling pope, and the church could use that now. His interview with CBC’s Peter Mansbridge may not have been well-advised, but there was a touching sense of humility about Ouellet on his prospects of becoming pope. He also came across as completely authentic, to say nothing of his humanity in watching a piece about his mother saying the rosary and praying for him.

Eighth, Ouellet has been an early and constant advocate of a zerotolerance policy on sexual abuse of children by priests, a story that has particular resonance in North America, and in historical terms in Canada in residential aboriginal schools and institutions such as Mount Cashel in Newfoundland.

It’s up to the cardinals, presumably guided by the Holy Spirit, to determine the kind of leader they need to bring the church into the 21st century.

No one expects the church to change its views on abortion, birth control, divorce or same-sex marriage.

But it sure needs to get with the program on transparency and accountability on scandals such as sexual abuse of children, not to mention decades of secretive and incompetent management of Vatican finances. And it would be quite something if the next pope stood out on that balcony and quoted John XXIII, about opening windows and letting in fresh air. He called the epic Vatican II Council.

The next pope doesn’t need to call a Vatican III, he just needs to let people back into the church. He could affirm a more prominent role for women or for those who’ve been marginalized by divorce and can’t even take communion.

I write as someone who grew up on his knees at St. Monica’s parish in Montreal and as an altar boy serving daily mass for many years, including for two cardinals. I was also educated by Jesuits at Loyola and they taught me a lot about Vatican politics.

But as a divorced Catholic, I’d also like to find a way home.

Author, former diplomat and speech writer L. Ian MacDonald is editor-in-chief of Policy Options, Canada’s premier public-policy magazine.