Posted on 01/03/2017 11:06:59 AM PST by ebb tide
Journalistic convention dictates that whenever we write about Pope Francis these days, we frame things in terms of his supporters and his critics. In reality thats a bit misleading, since few people fall entirely into one of those two categories.
Even the most enthused usually can cite a few times they wish Francis had zigged rather than zagged, and even the most alarmed generally have at least something positive to say. Then, of course, theres another vast pool of Catholics, to whom the question of what they think of a pope wouldnt even occur.
I recall once asking my late grandfather his opinion of John Paul II, and he looked at me as if Id solicited his view on the law of gravity: Hes the pope, for Gods sake! Conversation closed.
That said, there are undeniably large and vocal constituencies in the Church right now which are aligned, one predominantly skeptical of the Pope Francis revolution and the other ferociously devoted to it.
For that latter camp - who the Italians often call the bergoglisti, in reference to the pontiffs given name of Bergoglio - a key question making the rounds at the moment is the following: Will he have enough time?
In other words, will Francis be able to implement enough of his agenda before the end comes, so that it wont be able to be rolled back?
Theres no specific health crisis prompting that anxiety, but Francis did just turn 80 and has himself suggested several times his papacy may not go on terribly long, so one understands the concern.
It was expressed recently, for instance, by Enzo Bianchi, founder of the ecumenical community of Bose in northern Italy and a deep admirer of Pope Francis. (The feeling is mutual, as Francis named Bianchi to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Vaticans top office for ecumenical affairs, in 2014.)
Bianchi published a piece in LOsservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, just before New Years, among other things charging that some of the popes critics are guilty of grotesque accusations and insistent polemics.
Whats interesting for our purposes, however, is the way Bianchi closed the piece.
Francis, as everyone knows, has stirred much hope and enthusiasm, for which we can only rejoice, he wrote. When I listen to so many simple faithful, the impression I get is of hope that the pope will reform just a few essential things, but do it in a way so theres no going back.
Obviously, the last line suggests concern that going back, at least right now, is still an option.
Even more explicit was a late December piece on the Jesuit-sponsored site Reflexión y Liberación in Chile, written by a veteran priest named Father Faustino Vilabrille Linares, who serves in a series of small rural villages where, he writes, poverty runs so deep theres not even electricity.
Clearly a big Pope Francis fan, Vilabrille had an explicit request for the pontiff.
Continue creating cardinals, he wrote, until theres a sufficient number to ensure that when youre gone, your reform line in the Church will still be assured, and there wont be the possibility of going back like some want, he wrote.
For the same reason, Vilabrille also urged Francis to name more like-minded bishops too, to make sure the job gets done.
Of course, we have no way of knowing how much longer Francis will be at the helm. If we take the previous five popes, meaning Pius XII through Benedict XVI (discounting John Paul I, the pope of 33 days), their reigns lasted an average of almost 15 years, so by that standard Francis could still have a good long run.
Though that number is inflated by St. John Paul IIs almost 27-year term, the third-longest in Church history, even without it, the average is still more than 11 years.
Whatever the span turns out to be, we really dont have to wait to tackle the question being asked by the bergoglisti, which is whether Franciss legacy can be rolled back. For anyone familiar with a little bit of Church history, the obvious answer is yes and no.
The yes part is easy.
Certainly, a new pope can bring a different outlook and sense of priorities, which may in some ways represent a break with his predecessor. Those cheering Francis most loudly today, in fact, often do so precisely because they believe hes a change from the direction set under John Paul II and Benedict.
The Italians even have a phrase for this dynamic: You always follow a fat pope with a thin one, they say, by which they mean that often enough over the years, a liberal pope has been followed by a conservative, a traditionalist by a reformer, etc.
In many ways, a conclave almost invites such a cycle, since inevitably the choice shapes up in part as a referendum on the papacy thats just ended.
Here, however, is the no part: Catholicism isnt a zero/sum tradition, in which veering in one direction for a while means repealing what came before.
Today, for instance, many Catholic progressives feel that Francis is recovering parts of the legacy of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), which they regard as having been delayed or interpreted away for several decades.
Yet even if thats true (and many would argue its not), the reason Francis has something to recover in the first place is because Vatican II was still there, still part of the Churchs memory and experience.
No, Franciss papacy is not going to unhappen. People inspired by him are not going to disappear, and his example will continue to be a point of reference long after hes gone, just as with countless other popes, movements, saints, thinkers, and so on. Their influence may wax and wane, but its perpetually open to being revived and reapplied.
In sum: You cant unring the bell in the Church, but you can add some other bells to the mix. Over time, the collection of all these different impulses generally produces something in Catholicism resembling balance.
Given that, the meaningful question instead is how well see Franciss legacy once its fully formed - and, of course, which new bells the cardinals who will assemble one day in the Sistine Chapel decide to ring.
Clearly a big Pope Francis fan, Vilabrille had an explicit request for the pontiff.
Continue creating cardinals, he wrote, until theres a sufficient number to ensure that when youre gone, your reform line in the Church will still be assured, and there wont be the possibility of going back like some want, he wrote.
So Francis's supporters want the Catholic Church to continue down Francis's path of advocating for Socialism and redistribution of wealth in a big way.
I believe Pope Pius the Tenth broke a few heretical sounding bells in the past. John Allen (as is his want) forgets that the Church is a monarchy. ANY heretical practice can be undone by any subsequent pope.
The fake Pope was installed to advance a Marxist agenda and change the Church to reflect that agenda.
It could not have happened without sufficient support within the Church.
The Fake Pope is just a symbol of the rot within the Church.
I feel sorry for Catholics and am glad I am no longer one or this would be eating me up.
Still waiting for him to announce, Ex Cathedra, that Jesus (and apostles) were gay and that he’s declaring Karl Marx a posthumous Saint. Don’t laugh. Now I know how the communists felt while enduring John Paul the Great.
Pope St Pius X, however, was not appointing heretics like Cupich, Tobin and Farrell to the College of Cardinals. Pope Pius was weeding the heretics out; Bergoglio is bringing them in.
Yes, that’s why I said subsequent Pope (barring a rode to Damascus type event).
Subsequent popes are elected by cardinals elevated to the college by their predecessor popes.
Bergoglio is stacking the deck, and stacking it deep.
The 100th anniversary of Fatima occurs this year on October 13th. Our Lady has said, “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
May Her triumph occur before Bergoglio’s October 31st scheduled celebration, with fellow heretics, of the 500th anniversary of Luther’s Revolt .
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