Pope Francis is already moving to the conclave? Second Nicholas Porro, “at this stage, in which Ratzingerians and Bergogliers, conservatives and progressives, are increasingly dividing in the Vatican, the first steps towards the next post-Bergoglio conclave are already beginning”. The journalist and presenter of Rete 4 writes on his website that if it is true that Pope Francis is still alive, it is also true that he is now 86 years old and “hardly ever celebrates mass because of the pain in his knee, he is leaving around in a wheelchair and didn’t rule out a possible renunciation”.
In short, continues Porro, “sooner or later the conclave will happen and that preparatory manoeuvre they start much earlier. The pope himself knows this, having already arranged the boxes for the coming pope during his 10-year reign. It doesn’t mean you gave a name, you can’t. But a way, yes, the appointment of cardinal electors to these bishops, in line with Bergoglio’s doctrine on the Church: more missionary, more open, more progressive”.
And then there are the numbers. “The College of Cardinals currently has 125 electors, 81 of whom were nominated by Francis and only a minority (nearly 34) now by Benedict XVI. The others, about ten, are from the time of John Paul II.” And “the gap between the two factions could also increase,” Porro points out. In fact, “soon 11 cardinals will reach the age limit of 80 and lose the right to vote: 6 were nominated by Ratzinger, 3 by Bergoglio and 2 by John Paul II Angelo Bagnasco and four other Italians, reducing not only the weight of the traditionalists but also of the Italian Bishops’ Conference at the next conclave”.