TOM TARGUS
Age: 55.
Residence: Olympia.
Family: Married with two children, a daughter, 33, and a son, 28.
Church: St. Michael Parish.
Targus said he isn’t pushing for the next pope to come from a particular country or be of a certain race. He’s willing to accept whomever is chosen.
“I’m looking forward to whoever God wants to be in there,” he said.
Targus said he periodically checks the Internet to get news about the conclave, and then sees stories about some group laying odds on the next pope. It doesn’t work that way, he said.
“This is from above,” Targus said. “All have been chosen by God, and they bring whatever qualities they have to offer.”
Targus visited Rome in 2005 and got a chance to hear Pope Benedict XVI speak during a visit to St. Peter’s Square.
“I thought he did a great job,” he said about the pope emeritus.
DEACON TERRY BARBER
Age: 67.
Residence: Olympia.
Family: Married with two children; a daughter, 39, and a son, 37.
Church: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Lacey.
Barber said it’s an unusual circumstance to be choosing a pope, after Pope Benedict XVI’s unusual resignation, but that it’s also exciting.
“For me it’s time for prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to give these men as much wisdom as they can have in order for them to select the person that they feel is going to be the person for the job,” he said.
He said the next pope should be “somebody who really cares about the world, about everybody.” Evangelization, or spreading the church’s message, is an issue, he said, noting declining Mass attendance in the western world. For North America, the next pope will have to address the declining number of priests. And he will have to begin to heal the church after clergy sexual abuse. “I think that’s another thing that needs a serious look,” he said.
A new pope will also have to embrace new media, which Barber notes is a lot different from when he grew up.
