Some hope for another John Paul II; others hope for change. "Whoever he is," one worshiper says, "we're going to work with him, and we're going to love him."

01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, April 10, 2005

BY ELIZABETH GUDRAIS
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- The national news media report that American Catholics would like a liberal pope who would reconsider church stances on issues such as married priests, female priests, birth control and abortion.

If that is the trend, Rhode Islanders don't fit it. Here, in the most Catholic state in the nation, Catholics interviewed yesterday said, by and large, that they'd like the exact opposite.

"Right is right and wrong is wrong," 44-year-old Cynthia Florio said yesterday after Mass, as she left St. Edward Church, on Branch Avenue in the city's Wanskuck neighborhood.

Liberal Catholics "want priests to be able to get married," Florio said. "They want women to be able to be priests. But that's not what the Catholic Church is all about."

The best thing about Pope John Paul II, Florio said, was "his old traditional values. He didn't let anybody sway him."

The shortage of priests in the United States, so often cited as an argument for ordaining women, "is overemphasized," said 21-year-old Jen Giannakas.

"I don't think it's as serious as it's made out to be," said Giannakas, a parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, on Taunton Avenue, Seekonk, who was at St. Edward's in Providence yesterday, selling roses after Mass as a fundraiser.

"Priests tend to love their chastity," she said. "They know what they're entering into."

The Rev. Nolasco Tamayo, pastor of St. Edward Church, confirmed that his parishioners mostly want the pontiff's successor to hold fast to tradition.

There may be room for change in the format of the Liturgy, and more opportunities for involvement of lay people, said Father Tamayo, 32, a native of Colombia who has been at St. Edward's for three years. But most church practices "are Christ's teachings," he said. "That's not going to change."

Many said the political questions were beside the point. Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit, rather than policy considerations, inspires the cardinals in their choice of a new leader.

The Rev. Robert Hayman, pastor of St. Sebastian Church, on Cole Avenue, in the city's East Side, said the concept of U.S. Catholics calling for a liberal pope is "more news hype than anything else."

John Paul II was a good pope because he was faithful to the Gospels, Father Hayman said, and the church needs another pope like him.

Even among conservative Catholics, there were dissenting voices.

"I would like to see priests be able to get married," said Bill Sandberg, 57, and accountant from North Providence who worships at St. Augustine Church, on Mount Pleasant Avenue. "I think they would be able to understand our problems better, having gone through them. I think [Protestant] ministers have a leg up on them in that regard."

Still, most of those who expressed support for change in the church didn't voice strong opinions. For instance, when asked about ordaining women as priests, 37-year-old Carl Picerno of North Providence responded: "That's fine."

As parishioners stood outside St. Augustine -- a stately stone church with an imposing statue of its patron saint -- questions about the attributes important for the new pope sparked a wider discussion about tradition and change.

"The men should be men and the women should be women," said Philomena Chakoian, 74, of North Providence. "I don't want to see no women priests. Leave it to the men."

The church's stances on celibacy, gay marriage, birth control, abortion and women in the priesthood are part of what define it, said Marie DiNunzio, a parishioner of St. Augustine Church since 1958.

"If you want to become a Catholic, you have to abide by the rules and regulations," DiNunzio said.

Reformist or traditionalist, Rhode Island's Roman Catholics agreed on two things.

In the words of Chakoian, Pope John Paul II "was wonderful. They'll be hard pressed to find anybody like him."

And as for the new pope, "whoever he is," DiNunzio said, "we're going to work with him, and we're going to love him."