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Someone is beginning to take stock. French Pope He was elected pontiff of the Catholic Church in February 2013, so more than seven years have passed since Jorge Mario Bergoglio sits on the throne of Peter. Saint John Paul II was Pope for almost twenty-seven years. Benedict XVI, on the other hand, for almost eight. The former archbishop of Buenos Aires governs the universal Church, having succeeded a resigned pontiff who is now emeritus. Ratzinger created precisely the figure of the emeritus from scratch. As is well known, the situation is not without competition. Whatever the starting condition, among the analysts, according to this septenary, there are already those who make assessments. A shared reasoning: in principle, we have also noticed how the Covid-19 pandemic, and the consequent blocking of the Holy Father’s trips, has influenced the reformist impulse and the diffusion of pastoral care. This is something to keep in mind.
Catholic civilization, the Jesuit magazine directed by Father Antonio Spadaro who is considered the “spin doctor” of the South American Pope, asked, in his latest notebook, if the “engine” of Pope Francis was “still active”: it is more or less the question that we ask those who decide to listen for this study. The aforementioned reflection of the magazine is also signed by Spadaro. The expectation, when Jorge Mario Bergoglio looked for the first time at the window overlooking the Plaza de San Pedro, he looked towards the “revolution.” A shock that should have affected both the inner life of ecclesiastical circles and doctrine. These, at least, were the hopes of the “progressive front” and, although in a first phase, even the conservatives looked carefully and favorably at Francis’ action, especially as a result of the reformist impulse that had characterized José’s pontificate. Ratzinger, it is possible to notice how many elements have changed, in the judgments of the experts, from the 2013 Conclave to today.
One of the main focuses of the past period should have been on the reform of the Apostolic Constitution. The C9, which is the restricted council of cardinals sought by Pope Francis shortly after the Conclave, is working on it. Given that this text should also reorder the Congregations hierarchically, there seems to be a certain wait in the Curia, but nothing has yet been made official. And this one of the “failed reforms” is one of the workhorses used both by the “progressive front”, at least by the least inclined to remain in the status quo, and by the “conservative front”. This is just one of the important files. But in these seven years, whatever happens, has there been this or not “Revolution“?
The “driving force” debate
Rosario Vitale, who is a religious of the missionaries of the Sacred Heart, thinks that “troppo often this noun (revolution) is used incorrectly, and this could be one of the cases. It is too easy to speak of revolution when analyzing a pontificate and perhaps in some respects it is also a sign of superficiality in my opinion. No, in the most absolute way, I believe that the current pontificate is not “revolutionary”, but that, exactly in line with the previous ones, perhaps Pope Francis has accustomed us to a decidedly more sober style, in keeping with the times, but It seems excessive to me to speak of revolution, or worse still, of changes in the epoch, as someone has wanted us to believe in recent years ”. In short, Jorge Mario Bergoglio would not have upset the “Church” institution more than anyone would have expected, especially on the cultural left. The Catholic Church defends itself, but does not build walls. When asked about the term “propellant thrust”, Vitale responds, arguing that “…much can be expected. Some inappropriate language recently described a tired and now “dead in the media” Pope. As if the Petrine ministry could be “measured” by some newspaper of rumors or, worse still, by audience ratings … “The Apostolic Constitution, the famous reform of the Roman curia, to which the Pope and the council of Cardinals is working will be another important step, which will consolidate some aspects and which will give, to answer your question, a new engine for the good of the Church and the People of God ”, adds the religious, but there are also those who apart traditionalist, think exactly the opposite: “Francis has cut off all the branches from the tree he’s sitting on. The first part of the pontificate exalted the role of the pontiff, but in doing so, the Church as an institution was weakened … “, a source told us that he wishes to remain anonymous. Still: “What some have called the “Bergoglio effect” is over, if it ever existed. ” Why? “What happened to the file that Ratzinger left as a dowry to Bergoglio to solve the scandals? We have not spoken about that again, we are told.”. The debate in ecclesiastical circles is open. And the “fields of the Vatican” also end up dividing around what Francis has done in these seven years.
The disappointment of the progressive world
The progressives thought that this pontificate would be synonymous with “reforms.” In part, it was. Consider, for example, how many things have changed in terms of tradition: the meeting of the current cardinal was not chosen according to the criteria of the past. And the men that Bergoglio places at the head of the dioceses also seem to correspond to original criteria. It seems that the Pope tends to select “theologians of the people.” But the “revolution” of Francis does not concern some of the battles wanted by the branch of the ecclesiastical left. The light on, the one that shows that not all expectations have been met, is the “Internal Synod” of the German episcopate. The one through which the risk of schism is ventilated. The German Catholic Church is trying to approve at home what it would like the Universal Church to approve. From the new relationship between doctrine and homosexuality to the rise of women to the ecclesiastical hierarchies, through the secular management of parishes, with greater responsibilities for the non-consecrated people, and other reformist openings: Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who resigned as president of the bishops of Germany, intends to proceed with the national appointment that wants to approve significant changes in an autocephalous manner. But the most heartfelt question is another: the abolition of priestly celibacy. Progressives always thought that the Synod for the Amazon was the propitious occasion to initiate a historical turning point in one of the basic rules of being a priest, but it did not happen. Indeed, Bergoglio has specified that it will not be under his pontificate that priestly celibacy will be abolished. And this cannot help but impatient the doctrinal currents that have always emphasized the urgency of this measure. Not even the next synods, therefore, should modify a norm that Ratzinger defended with the work of four never written, in a delicate phase, with Cardinal Robert Sarah. Germany, however, is not there and is on its way. Bergoglio was less inclined to please the ecclesiastical left than the latter would have expected.
The battle of the conservative world
On the contrary, after some initial positive sentiments, the conservative hemisphere has become openly critical of the work of the former archbishop of Buenos Aires. The opposition – as it is called – arose from the publication of Amoris Laetitia, the apostolic exhortation that opened the divorced and remarried to communion. Then everything was a crescendo, with the presentation of documents destined to correct papal positions. Furthermore, conservatives have organized real counter-initiatives, especially public conferences, which have even made us think of a “conspiracy”. For the most part, it was the laity who expressed some discontent. An accusation – this one of “conspiracy” – which, against the conservative world, is launched from time to time by the progressive press. The “plots”, so far, do not appear to have manifested. In contrast to the complaints against a “driving force” that upset the Church as conceived by this “traditional front”. Right now, the conservative world seems busy trying to avoid the future ofchurch it is made up of the “bergoglian” instances, as defined. There are also those who do not hide, tracing through the publication of books some profiles on the next bishop of Rome, who in the intentions of the “traditional front” could only restore what was “revolutionized” by the “propellant thrust” of Francis . But this can also be a simplification of a movement that hopes that the Church will stop going “to meet the world”, to limit itself to “being in the world”, that is, to address above all problems of a spiritual nature, shedding the role of “NGO”. . Of RightIndeed, there has often been a focus on how this pontificate, which combines the welcoming of migrants erga omnes, Greta Thunberg-style environmentalism and economic affairs, has substantially revised the role thatchurch he is called to exercise in the world. But it is, in fact, a partisan critique of those who believe that the Church is transforming itself into something akin to a non-governmental organization.
The “isolation of Bergoglio”
The pandemic has given us his, but today the image of the Pope, although not especially in the interpretive sense of the ability to record, is certainly different from the initial one. Among those who spoke of an “isolated” Pope Francis, it is worth mentioning the Wall street journal, which certainly does not have the reputation of a populist or sovereign newspaper. In addition to the blockade by the pandemic, in fact, the double disappointment, the progressive and the conservative, could have produced an effect: a Pope less supported from within. This is a mere hypothesis, but the double fire could trigger a reduction process. Perhaps. There was a juncture in which Bergoglio seemed ready to approach the conservative wing: when he wrote a letter to Cardinal Gherard Ludwig Mueller, former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to which the Bishop of Rome himself did not, however he renewed the position after the first term. Progressives may have thought that the Pope was giving in to the left, in search of a new, less combative ally on the urgency of doctrinal reforms. Ultimately, this question of stopping the “driving force” can be read in at least two ways: for the ecclesiastical left it can mean a prevarication that must be fought with internal initiatives, such as the German “Synod”; the ecclesiastical right, in return, could welcome this “stop” as something positive. Furthermore, it will not be Jorge Mario Bergoglio who will abolish priestly celibacy. And this is just one of many possible examples of what could have happened for progressives and which, fortunately for conservatives, has not happened or has not happened yet.
