From his reforms to his foreign relations, criticism of Pope Francis has intensified since the death of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, revealing a climate of “civil war” at a time when the Catholic Church is engaged in a global conversation about its future.
Benedict, a conservative German theologian who was pope for eight years before resigning in 2013, died on Dec. 31 at the age of 95.
Within days of his death, his closest aide, Georg Gaenswein, revealed Benedict’s concerns at some of the changes made by Pope Francis, notably his decision to restrict the use of the Latin Mass.
Photo: Reuters
Many in the conservative wing of the Roman Curia, which governs the Church, have long complained the Argentine pontiff is too focused on pastoral matters at the expense of theological rigor.
After death last month of Australian cardinal George Pell, it was revealed that he had authored an anonymous note published last year that directly attacked Francis.
The note described the current papacy as a “catastrophe,” and among other issues criticized “heavy failures” of Vatican diplomacy under his watch.
Pell, once a close adviser to Francis, was jailed for child sexual abuse before being acquitted in 2020.
At the end of last month, German Cardinal Gerhard Mueller published a book adding fuel to the fire.
The former head of the Vatican’s powerful congregation for the doctrine of the faith denounced Francis’ “doctrinal confusion” and criticized the influence of a “magic circle” around him.
Mueller’s book caused consternation among some inside the Vatican.
“When you accept a cardinal’s cap, you agree to support and help the pope. Criticisms are made in private, not in public,” a senior official in the Secretariat of State said.
Pope Francis told reporters on his plane returning from South Sudan on Sunday last week that his critics have “exploited” Benedict’s death to further their cause.
“Those who exploit such a good person, such a man of God ... I would say they are unethical people, they are people belonging to a party, not to the Church,” he said.
Italian Vatican expert Marco Politi said Mueller’s book “is a new stage in the unstoppable escalation by the pope’s adversaries.”
“There is a civil war in the heart of the church, which will continue until the last day of the papacy,” he said.
The tensions come as the Catholic Church conducts a vast global consultation on its future, the Synod on Synodality, launched by Pope Francis in 2021.
Designed to decentralize the governance of the church, it has revealed key differences, with the German Catholic Church, for example, showing distinctly more appetite for reform than Rome.
Discussions cover several areas, from the place of women in the church to how to handle child abuse scandals, from whether priests should marry to how the Church welcomes LGBTQ people.
Politi said that critics of Pope Francis are already converging into a “current of thought capable of influencing the next conclave,” and by extension the next papacy.
A conclave, a global gathering of cardinals, would be called if Francis died or resigned.
The pope has said he would be willing to follow Benedict’s example and resign if his health stopped him from doing his job.
Despite knee problems that have seen him use a wheelchair in recent months, Francis remains active and in charge, and popular around the world, as the crowds during his recent trip to Africa showed.
“This knee is annoying, but I go on, slowly, and we’ll see,” the 86-year-old said on Sunday last week.
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