From rome
Rumors and more rumors in Italy and in the Vatican about Pope Francis, have been added creating uncertainty to a super hot summer, with an increase in the spread of the covid, with fires and floods all over the world and several countries on the brink of the abyss. – albeit for different reasons – like Haiti and Afghanistan. According to these rumors, never confirmed, Pope Francis would be seriously thinking about resigning, which for several analysts, such as the Vaticanist Marco Politi interviewed by Page 12, seems rather unlikely because Francisco has scheduled not only several trips (to Budapest and Slovakia in September) but an important project that he wants to carry out: a synod of bishops on the future of the Church in the post-pandemic, which will begin in October and will last two years.
Journalist and writer, Marco Politi is a Vatican expert. He has published several books on the last Popes. The last one, “Francesco. Plague. La rinascita ”(Francisco. The plague. The rebirth. Edit. La Terza), already translated into French and German, is dedicated to the role of Pope Francis in the covid epidemic. “Francisco is the only international voice that has raised the problem of rebuilding society after the pandemic. But an inclusive society, without natural degradation, in which people are not left behind and there are not those huge chasms between the few super rich and the hundreds of millions of poor “Politi explained. Other of his books are “Josep Ratzinger, crisis di un papato” (Josep Ratzinger crisis of a papacy, 2011), “Papa Wojtila. L’addio ”(Papa Wojtila. Goodbye, 2007),“ La solitudine di Francesco ”(The loneliness of Francis, 2019) and“ Francesco tra i lupi ”(Francis among the wolves, 2014).
No specific problems
–An article in the Italian newspaper “Libero” (center-right) said that Pope Francis, because of the disease for which he was operated on in July or because of his age (he turns 85 in December), would be seriously thinking about resigning from the papacy . Does this claim have any basis in your opinion?
– At this moment we do not have elements, neither official nor unofficial, to say that the pope’s health has worsened. You have certainly had a major operation and you need to take care of yourself. It has certainly not been possible for journalists to have a press conference directly with the doctors who treated him. But at this moment the Pope sees himself as an elderly person but without specific problems.
-Articles in other newspapers have even said that the Vatican is talking about a new conclave for the election of a pontiff and candidates. According to you, is that so? Has something similar happened with other Pontiffs?
-No, at this time there is no talk within the Vatican about the resignation of the Pope. But certainly when the Popes reach an advanced age, in various parts of the world they begin to reflect on what will happen next. And to wonder what kind of Pope should be the successor. But this is absolutely normal. It happened in the times of John Paul II and Paul VI.
Maneuvers
-All the rumors that circulate, if they do not have a serious basis, could they be invented by the opponents of Pope Francis to diminish their credibility?
-Certainly starting to talk about the resignation of the Pope is surely a maneuver of the most conservative circles that want this Pope to end his pontificate as quickly as possible. These maneuvers have been denounced for two years, among others by the German Cardinal Walter Kasper and by the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, the Venezuelan Arturo Sosa Abascal. Father Sosa has said that there is a political struggle within the Church and Cardinal Kasper has indicated that there are people who this Pope does not like and would like him to leave as soon as possible. This is the climate in which these rumors about the resignation of Francisco are launched.
-But could it be true that Pope Francis was thinking of resigning because of all the existing controversies in the Church?
-At the beginning of his pontificate, the Pope declared to Mexican television that he might be in the papacy for four or five years and then he would resign. But this initial idea came to nothing because all the reforming forces of the Church have insistently asked him to stay as long as possible. The Pope will resign only if suddenly his health conditions do not allow him to move on, to continue personally taking care of the Vatican machine. But Francisco has a very important project that he wants to conclude personally. It recently decided that the synod of bishops, which will begin in October, will not last just one month as usual, but should last two years. It will be a synod on a very important topic: the mission of the Church and participation within the Church in the post-pandemic. The Pope has said that this synod must start from Rome and during 2022 it will be discussed in all the dioceses of the world, and it will end in 2023. And he wants to personally take care of this project. The synod will be very important for the life of the Church in the 21st century.
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