Cardinal Koch shares considerations for next conclave, pope, ecumenism

Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, during an interview with EWTN Vatican Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser on Jan. 18, 2024. / Credit: EWTN

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 2, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, said in a recent interview with the Spanish YouTube channel “Cónclave Informa” (“Conclave Report”) that a conclave “is not a political thing, but a prayer” and that a pope “must be a man of faith.” 

“For me it’s important that the conclave not be a political thing, but a prayer. Above all, the main protagonist of a conclave is the Holy Spirit, and we must pray for this,” he said.

In this context, the cardinal said that “a pope has as his first task to be faithful to the will of God, because he must instruct the entire Christian people” and, consequently, “he must be an example of seeking the will of God.”

Koch emphasized that “a pope must be a man of faith and above all also of Christian values ​​in the world. Especially in Europe, which has lost many, many Christian roots from its history, and this does not bode well for the future.”

He also pointed out that the dicastery’s June document “The Bishop of Rome” is “above all a study document” based on the conviction that “the primacy of the bishop of Rome is a gift of the Holy Spirit that we cannot keep only for ourselves.”

“It’s clear that some see that we need a head, someone who is first at all levels of the Church, at the local, regional, and universal level. Above all, some Orthodox see it this way. With Protestants, the situation is very different,” he added.

Crisis of catechesis

Koch noted that “the great crisis of faith that we have in the Church today is also a crisis of catechesis, because it is very important for living the faith in today’s society.”

“If young people no longer know what Christianity is, what the Christian faith is, they cannot grow in faith and then they leave it behind. For this reason catechesis has an overriding primacy in the life of the Church, or should have it,” he added.

“It’s very important that the faithful have a personal relationship with God,” he continued. “If they don’t pray, they don’t have personal contact with God, they cannot know the divine reality. Because even with people, if a person only speaks about another person but does not speak with him, he cannot know him any further.”

Key to interpreting the Second Vatican Council

Asked about the voices that claim that the Catholic Church has undergone a process of “protestantization” after the Second Vatican Council, Koch believes that “the fundamental problem is how we see, how we read the Second Vatican Council, especially the texts, not just the spirit.”

Therefore, Koch considered it “very important” to follow the teaching of Benedict XVI regarding applying a hermeneutic of reform and not of rupture to analyze Vatican II.

The Eucharist, key to conversion

Based on his experience in ecumenical dialogue, and having witnessed numerous conversions from Protestantism, Koch underscored that the Eucharist has a fundamental role in these processes.

“I’ve asked these people: Why? And the answer has always been: ‘Because of the Eucharist.’ Because we have not experienced in the Protestant faith the celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ that is truly present in our lives. And so we want to change and become Catholics,” he said.

And so he encouraged “delving deeper into the Eucharistic reality also in our Church” since “the Eucharist is the source and summit of the life of the Church.”

The Virgin Mary, model of the Church

“Mary is the model of the Church. Everything that sacred Scripture says about the Church, it has said before about Mary. And from Mary the Church can learn what the Church is,” the prelate explained. 

“If we see in sacred Scripture that the veneration of Mary is present and if we want to be faithful to sacred Scripture, we cannot forget Mary, rather we must see the principal reality of Marian faith. And this is very, very important,” he continued.

In an ecumenical context, the cardinal added that “today we have to deepen our faith, including in ecumenism, which must be a reality of faith, because the goal of ecumenism is faith, apostolic faith, which each new member of the body of Christ receives in baptism. Ecumenism must be a baptismal thing. Faith is not above all a political, ecclesial church but must be the center of life.”

The faith of Spain

Koch also expressed his desire that “faith would remain in the blood of the Spanish people.”

“It would be very good to see faith remaining in the blood of the Spanish people. I hope that’s the case,” said the cardinal, who appreciated that Spain has “a great history” despite the fact, he reflected, that “when you visit the cathedrals, the basilicas, the churches, they seem like museums and sometimes I ask myself: Where are the faithful who can pray? But I hope that this is not a widespread reality and that in the parishes it’s different,” he concluded.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.