“It doesn’t make much sense to base your faith on the quality of the management.” That’s the view of a Catholic woman close to me in response to the current crisis in Rome and elsewhere.

By way of disclosure, this wise mot comes from my wife, a life-long Catholic like me, who sees popes, bishops, and other church officials in perspective. We have been long used to faulty leadership and it troubles us.

There are currently revelations of sexual abuse by clergy in country after country. They continue to horrify us Catholics, and countless others as well. This situation angers us deeply and sometimes makes us feel ashamed of our heritage.

But it does not undermine our membership in the community of faith.

My membership in that world-wide community of believers started with my baptism way back in 1928. I am still grateful for the gift of my spiritual life.

For months, people have been asking me what I think about the pope’s current troubles. My former standing as a cleric, they think, puts me on an inside track to explain what is happening in the Vatican.

Perhaps. But the workings of the Vatican remain usually enigmatic, too shrouded in secrecy to permit confident analysis. It’s like a medieval court with king and courtiers who jealously guard information from outsiders.

Before the advent of modern communications, few Catholics knew or cared what the pope did. He was remote from most of them, both in their thoughts and in physical distance. Their local clergy were the ones who represented the official church for them.

Now, it seems, every word from the pope’s mouth becomes international news. To manage effectively, he must be skilled in public relations, something Benedict XVI certainly is not.

And some of us do not like the way the Vatican has handled the scandal. However, maybe the mishandling of this catastrophe – –  blaming the media, for example  –  –  may create a backlash. It might even  begin to open the door to reform.

Not so long ago, historically speaking, many Catholics had hopes of a new approach to church governance. The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), that memorable gathering of more than 2000 bishops from around the word, gave promise of radical change. And indeed some of that change took place, as shown in the current Catholic liturgy.

Vatican II had a forceful impact on my life. The call of Pope John XXIII to let fresh winds blow through the church thrilled and inspired me. But his death, before the council had completed its agenda, dashed some of my hopes for needed changes.

One key issue was taken out of the council’s hands. Catholic laity around the world had anticipated that the bishops would modify the church’s position on birth control.

But Paul VI, the successor of john XXIII, took on the issue himself, and affirmed the status quo –  – a decision that remains as dubious now as it was then.

In my fantasy life, I have taken action to transform the authority structure of the Catholic Church. I regard the current monarchical model of the papacy as inappropriate. For the pope to rule like a king, if it was ever suitable, is now clearly outmoded.

Were I able to make one immediate change in the papacy it would be this: Let the pope be elected for a term of office, rather than for life.

Among other benefits, this change would allow for the choice of younger people as pope. You would not have to elect men approaching 80 in order to ensure that the pope not stay in office for decades.

Besides, in the modern world people are living much longer than previously. Though no one has yet lasted beyond 122, many more of us are reaching 100. Is it good for the church always to draw its leadership from the ranks of old people?

I would welcome younger candidates, not teenagers or twenty-somethings, but people in their physical prime who could supply fresh ideas and new vision to church leadership.

Also, a sobering reality in the modern world is the widespread hold that dementia has on too many elders. At present, the church makes no provision for handling brain disease in popes. Yes, they could retire –  – but no pope has done that for centuries.

Vatican II established one vehicle for sharing in the power of the pope. Synods, or assemblies of bishops, were to meet annually to advise him on important issues.

Unfortunately, however, these meetings usually rubber-stamp the pope’s views. They show the need for other approaches.

Finally, the Catholic Church suffers from the absence of women in positions of power. It is hard to believe that the sexual abuse on the part of clerics, high and low, would have spread the way it has if women were running the church –  – or, in fact, if any were routinely consulted.