The successor of Pope Francis must be one who would work for unity among nations and within the Catholic Church itself, said Cardinal William Goh, Archbishop of Singapore.
“We are all agreeable that the pope must be one that can promote unity within the Church and peace among nations,” The Straits Times quoted the prelate in a June 8 article.
Goh noted, however, that unity doesn’t mean uniformity. Unity respects diversity and should be inspired as long as it is aligned with the truth.
“It is in diversity that we see the richness of the Church, the different cultures, liturgies, rites, and ways of living out the pastoral mission in affluent countries, in poor countries, and in countries under oppression and discrimination,” he said.
According to Goh, who warned against a form of inclusiveness that enables people to do whatever they want, unity must also involve clarity of doctrine.
“The Church is not a clubhouse where you can choose to swim, sing, or play in the casino,” he said. “The Church is where all of us are members of the body of Christ, and we believe in the Gospel. We want to live out that teaching.”
For Goh, inclusivity is not revising the Gospel to align it with one’s choices, but changing oneself to align with it.
“He was not one of the well-known candidates for the papacy, and most of us did not know him except for those perhaps from Latin America or Rome.”
But Pope Leo XIV “is someone who really wants to listen, learn, and try to understand,” he said. “He doesn’t react suddenly and is a man who thinks through what he wants to say.”
According to Goh, the pope’s nationality does not matter, as his role is unity and service to the Church and people.
“I went in [the conclave] without exactly knowing what I would be doing and how this whole process would evolve,” he said. “But I went in with a great sense of responsibility that being one of the 133 electors, the person we chose to be next pope would have serious implications—not just for the Church, but for the world.”
Goh also noted that in the past most of the cardinals came from Europe. However, the Catholic faith has been declining across Europe, particularly among the young.
Pope Francis’ move to pick cardinals from different parts of the world helped the Church in preserving its Catholicity, he said.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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