As the Cardinals gather in Rome today to elect a new Pope, they will feel the weight of a responsibility beyond that which most of us will ever experience.

The Church, rocked by scandal after scandal finds itself further and further out of touch with daily life across the developed world. But the Cardinals know that the solemn task of the Church is to provide moral leadership, rather than to follow the changing social fashions of each decade.

This is a circle that lesser minds would be unable to square. For while the Church must remain true to its own teachings, a Church completely divorced from the realities of modern life can provide no leadership at all.

Here at Broadsheet we have always been proud of our long tradition of independence regarding Papal Conclaves. But we feel the time has come to make a stand before the white smoke billows forth and heralds a man who may not be prepared to make some of the bold decisions needed to save and preserve the faith.

A quick glance at the shopping trolley of any modern Irish family will tell you that 87% of Irish catholics no longer eat fish on a Friday. And yet the Church continues to alienate our young by continuing to preach the injunction on red meat on Fridays, despite this bar having no scriptural basis.

The time has come for a Pope with the courage to grasp this theological nettle and cast it into the dustbin of history. How many more vocations are lost because the young cannot eat, say a ham sandwich, on a Friday, and go to confession with a clear conscience?

It’s certainly “food for thought’ for the cardinals as they cast their votes.