The line chosen to address the issue of the war in Ukraine is further evidence of how Francis revolutionized the idea of the papacy. This could be summed up as the reflection of Father Antonio Spadaro, director of La Civiltà Cattolica and “spin doctor” of the Argentine Pope, who wanted to recall how the Pope, with his recent moves in the war in Ukraine, was deliberately stripping off the clothes of a new emperor .
The Italian Jesuit starts from the concept “Rich” to explain in the political sense of the word, that is, from a clear dividing line of nationalist or at least partisan interests, how Jorge Mario Bergoglio resisted this “temptation”. And he explains how the South American Pope created a gap between the figure of Christ’s Vicar on earth and that of Caesar. By a political, powerful and international figure.
The unspoken concerns those who are trying to “pull the jacket” of the Bishop of Rome in this or that geopolitical direction and thus in this or that part of the Ukraine conflict, as one would say in less than clerical jargon. “Political potestas and spiritual auctoritas must always be clearly distinguished: this is the strength of the universality of Catholicism. Strength is testified, for example, by Albina and Iryna, Russian and Ukrainian, who carried the cross with their hands intertwined in the Via Crucis of the Colosseum”, write down Antonio Spadaro in his remarks, which also appeared on Twitter.
This year’s Via Crucis, with two women, a Russian and a Ukrainian, carrying the cross has sparked more than diplomatic controversy. The Kiev Ambassador to the Holy See he attempted to explain the reasons for resistance to a representational modality that was perceived as perhaps too “equidistant”. But the former archbishop of Buenos Aires – according to the arguments presented – prefers the spiritual auctoritas and refuses to argue with the instruments of politics. The director of La Civiltà Cattolica also mentions the question inherent in the choice of clothing: “He no longer even wears red – remarks the Jesuit father – an imperial color and expression of the imitatio imperii of the Bishop of Rome”.
Incidentally, the alleged disregard for formalism and ritualism is one of the reasons why Pope Francis spoke of the so-called Traditionalist front. For Spadaro it is even possible to introduce the Pope to the concept of secularism (and perhaps this is the point of reflection of the Italian cleric destined to receive more criticism or comments): “Francis is secular, very secular. He strips the spiritual power of its temporal clothing and its weapons, also for a good cause”. So that of Francis would be a real choice, one would even say strategicallyto achieve a design aimed at separating the term “sacerdotium” from that of “imperium”, as indicated by Spadaro, who prefers the use of “unravel” (separate, from a theological point of view, is a verb that goes to the devil) .
However, the work is not easy to complete: “Let us not fool ourselves – commented the Italian Jesuit –: the mixture of sacerdotium and empire is not easy to unravel. But the halo of the Saint of Assisi now coincides with that of the Vicar of Christ. And he’s giving up the Kaiser profile forever, which today would just be unworldly.” But the message is still crystal clear. Behind the election of Francis lies an idea of a pontificate that does not care about historical contingency: it refuses to be a kind of guarantor power, instead adopting the image of a spiritual power alien to its “secular” character. One of the most complex tests of the Jesuit Pope, which also shows in this case that he has a very peculiar idea of the Church and its mission in the world. Also and especially with a war that was unleashed within the Christian world.