My grandfather was a Baptist preacher who always talked about God but never (as far as I can recall) bashed the Catholic Church. My father often talked about history and current affairs (in fact, he still does) and regularly watched the 6:00 national news anchored by Walter Cronkite.
I always paid attention to the grown-ups' conversations and usually found them fascinating, which probably wasn't "normal" for a wee lad but does explain, at least in part, why I'm not a knee-jerk anti-Catholic and why I have always taken a keen interest in many things Vatican.
I'm not sure if I was aware he went by the name Paul VI, but I do remember the pope dying when I was seven years old in 1978, and I remember thinking that was a big deal and wondering who would replace him. When Dad turned Walter Cronkite on in the evenings, I would watch to see if they had decided on a new pope. I was excited when the announcement came, and a month later was shocked when he died unexpectedly. A month seems much longer to a 7-year-old than to a 54-year-old, but it still struck me, even then, as an unfathomably brief time for a man to head the world's largest church; so when the cardinals all returned to Rome so soon for yet another conclave, I was even more interested than before and paid even closer attention to the nightly news.
On October 16, 1978, when the world learned that Karol Jozef Wojtyla was elected and had chosen to adopt the same papal name as his predecessor, thus becoming Pope John Paul II, I sensed it was a momentous occasion and that he would have a major impact on the world. Obviously I was clueless about the true scope of what lay ahead - that he would oversee a global boom of evangelism, re-inject Christianity to the Soviet Bloc, and help end the Cold War - but I did sense he was momentous, and thus I paid attention to what he did and came to appreciate the authenticity of the church he guided for more than 26 years.
Because John Paul II's successor chose to resign while still alive, this month's passing of Pope Francis marks the first time in 47 years that a pope has died in office. Historically speaking, that is an extraordinarily long time and maybe even unprecedented: Assuming the accuracy of Wikipedia's list of popes, I just scrolled through it all the way back to 1492 A.D., the same year Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and 24 years is the longest gap I see between the deaths of any sitting popes.
As a non-Catholic, it might seem strange for me to weigh in on the pros and cons of Francis' legacy and the qualities I hope his successor will possess. But as a Christian and human being, I do have skin in the game, so to speak - and so with Francis' funeral having happened today, I pray for the College of Cardinals to heed the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the conclave that will soon commence.
People here in the United States and elsewhere in the West often perceive Christianity to be in retreat. But that's only because we humans tend to be myopic and "see in a mirror dimly," as stated in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Globally speaking, Christianity is on the march; and that is largely due to the growth it is experiencing in the so-called global south, particularly in Africa and Asia, where the Catholic Church is leading the way with such figures as cardinals Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (Congo), Robert Sarah (Guinea), and Luis Tagle (Philippines).
All three of those men are considered candidates to become the next pope. Two of them are considered theologically conservative, one of them theologically moderate, and none of them theologically liberal. But of course, it is entirely possible none of them will be elected.
Ultimately, the state of the Christian faith on Earth is inseparable from the state of the Catholic Church on Earth. Gen X "cradle Protestants" such as myself should be able to see that. And we should be able to admit that the weakening of faith we've seen in the West during our lifetimes is due more to noodle-spined concerns and fallacies within Protestantism than to anything happening within Catholicism.
But those concerns and fallacies, which could fill many volumes of large books, are not the subject of this post. For now, I simply say we should all take an interest in what happens in the Vatican during this current interregnum between popes - also known as a sede vacante, Latin for "the seat is vacant" - and should all pray for the faithfulness, wisdom, and courage of whomever is chosen to be what Catholics refer to as the successor to Saint Peter.