This second health crisis in a month has sparked renewed discussion -- and concern -about the issues raised when the pope gets seriously ill. Joining us now from New York is Father Thomas Reese, editor-in-chief of the weekly Catholic magazine America.
Father Reese, welcome.
LAWTON: The Vatican says the work of the Church is indeed moving forward, but is there a point at which a prolonged hospital stay might hinder things a little bit?
Reverend THOMAS J. REESE (Editor-in-Chief, America Magazine): Well, a prolonged stay could cause difficulties. In any organization, the man at the
top is the one who gets all the tough decisions. And if the pope doesn't have the strength or the energy to meet with people, to read documents, then he's going to have to rely on the people who surround him. These are people that he trusts, that he has confidence in, that understand where he's coming from, the way he thinks. So, you know, this could go on for awhile. But still, it would be a narrow group of people who would be having access to the pope.LAWTON: Well, speaking of that narrow group, only a small number have been able to visit the hospital -- what are the implications of that?
Rev. REESE: Well, if for example, one of the things that the pope has to do is appoint bishops. If, you know, they come in to him and say, "Here, your holiness, is the list of 20 bishops that we think should be appointed," and, if he doesn't have the energy to read the background documents, to study the names, he's going to say, "Well, are these good men?" And they say yes, and he says okay and signs his name.
You know, we would have serious problems if the pope went into a coma. You know, as long as he is conscious, he of course can resign -- that's permitted under Church law. And if he came to the conclusion for the good of the Church he needed to step aside, he would do that because he has always done what's good for the Church. But, if he's unconscious and in a coma, we have nothing like the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which provides for how we deal with a president who becomes disabled. So, this would cause a real constitutional crisis in the Catholic Church, because we wouldn't know what to do.
