DETECTION – Governing the Catholic Church is no easy task, but governing the Vatican is even more dangerous. Despite his political talent and strong character, François, 85, is facing a series of adversities like never before in this tenth year of his pontificate.
Special Envoy for Rome
Never before has Pope Francis faced such adversity. In this year 2022, the tenth of his pontificate, everything seems to have conspired against him. Rome, always quick to burn what it loves, is in turmoil. Some recognize a mature phase of the pontificate. Others an “end of dominion” as is customary in the Eternal City. Many are already thinking about how to proceed. But François, 85, very combative, is far from saying his last word. A great Christian world jubilee is in sight for 2025. Above all, it is preparing its capital reform: that of “synodalism” for 2024.
He hopes to transform the pyramidal, centralized and clerical church into a more democratic, decentralized community where power is more shared with lay people. Will he make it? That ambition inspires support and admiration from some, and deep skepticism from those familiar with the mysteries of a two-thousand-year-old institution built on centralization. This pontificate, reformatory, extravagant and… divisive, would it culminate or would it collapse?
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All pontificates know the same upward and then downward curve. What matters to the church is the reach of a pontificate. From this point of view, those of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. still very much alive with their qualities and flaws.
High tension in the Vatican
Didn’t they shape long generations of believers and clergy? For François it is and will remain the same. In the ecclesiastical milieu, therefore, no one dares to make hasty judgments about the course of events. “The phases of the crisis are not necessarily the worst,” notes a young cardinal, a man of God stationed at the Vatican; they open up to realities of the Church that we cannot see at this time. The Lord does not forsake his church. »
Hope is there, especially among Christians, but the word “crisis” is admitted anyway. It has been open to some since the election of François. For others it is younger, including the Pope’s supporters. Everyone agrees on the tense climate that reigns in the Holy See, the intensity of which does not diminish, contrary to the image of good nature spread throughout the world and which has transformed the image of the Church. Obviously, there are strong antagonisms in François, linked to his strong personality, considered “divisive”. His “cutting” character, his “authoritarian” style are the daily lot of a Vatican where we hear these qualifications. There is also papal “anger” and many say they are “terrified”. There are also, more objectively, a number of difficult acts which sometimes cast a harsh light on the pontificate. A longtime Italian observer who has seen and heard much in Vatican City sums it up in one word: “confusion”. A “Latin American” confusion
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