The death of Benedict XVI opens a new page, and not without pitfalls, in the pontificate of Francescowhich the Jesuit pope will predictably govern, as he has governed these almost ten years of cohabitation, in the name of the unity of the Church.
Joseph Ratzinger e Jorge Mario Bergoglio they could not have been more different, but the election of the second would not have taken place without the unprecedented resignation of the first. The conservative theologian has been succeeded by the Latin American reformist, the guardian of Catholic orthodoxy, who with his step backwards has revolutionized the life of the Church, has been succeeded by the pastor who wants to gradually and synodically evolve the magisterium. It was inevitable that the co-presence of a reigning Pope and a Pope Emeritus, at a distance of a few hundred meters, would trigger questions and some tension.
Like when Benedict XVI’s personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, spoke of a “shared Petrine ministry”, a concept immediately corrected by the Vatican; or when, a few weeks after the publication of the apostolic exhortation “Querida Amazonia” by Francis, a joint book by Benedict XVI with Cardinal Robert Sarah came out, which barred the way for any hypothesis – if it had ever been the intention of the reigning pontiff – about the “viri probati” for the Amazon region, the so-called married priests. A certain conservative world looked to Benedict as a bulwark against the breath of fresh air brought by Francis, far beyond his intentions, and felt reassured by him.
“He drove them away”
Bergoglio himself alluded to this scenario in 2016, on the return flight from Armenia: “I have heard – but I don’t know if this is true – I stress: I have heard, perhaps they will be rumors, but they agree with his character, which some are went there to complain because “this new Pope…”, and he kicked them out! In the best Bavarian style: polite, but he kicked them out ”. Benedict XVI at the very moment of his resignation had promised full obedience to his successor, whoever he might be.
Francis for his part has always paid his predecessor every honor, inviting him, from the beginning of his pontificate, not to disappear from the public scene, visiting him periodically, bringing new cardinals to him at each consistory. “He is the Pope emeritus for me, he is the wise “grandfather”, he is the man who watches over my shoulders and back with his prayers”.
Francis has been the target of sometimes fierce criticism from the more traditionalist sectors, he has encountered resistance and discontent, in the curial world and among the Catholics closest to his predecessors, but he has been careful to avoid tears and preserve the unity of the Church. He is aware that with the death of Benedict XVI, pressure could arise from those quarters for him to think in turn about resigning in the future: one of the most recurring arguments, moreover, was not that such a step backwards would have been unthinkable as long as there was already a pope emeritus?
Several emeritus, or none
A scenario that, however, has no objective foundation. Because, first of all, apart from a problem with walking, Pope Francis, 86 years old, is in good health, government activity is proceeding quickly, the agenda is busy. Furthermore, before the historic resignation of Benedict, the hypothesis of a Pope who renounces had not even been contemplated, the aftermath is all to be defined. And if Francis has so far refused to regulate the statute of the Pope emeritus, again in 2016 he expressed himself clearly in this regard: “I publicly thanked – he said – Benedict for having opened the door to Popes emeritus. 70 years ago bishops emeritus did not exist; today there are. But with this lengthening of life, can a Church be supported at a certain age, with ailments, or not? And he, with courage – with courage! – And with prayer, and also with science, with theology, he has decided to open this door. And I think this is good for the Church. But there is only one Pope. The other… or perhaps – as for bishops emeritus – I’m not saying many, but perhaps there may be two or three, they will be emeritus”.
Just as nothing a priori excluded, or will exclude in the future, the existence of more than one Pope Emeritus, so there is no correlation between the death of Benedict and the eventual resignation of Francis. Theme indirectly evoked in recent weeks by the Argentine Pope. What’s going on, the journalists of the Spanish daily asked him in mid-December Abc, if a pontiff is suddenly prevented by health problems or an accident? Wouldn’t a rule be appropriate for these cases? “I have already signed my renunciation,” replied the 86-year-old Bergoglio.
This is not a recent initiative, but dates back to the first months of the pontificate, “it was when Tarcisio Bertone he was secretary of state”, he explained: the Salesian retired the same year of the Conclave, in 2013, succeeded by the current secretary of state, Peter Parolino. “I signed the waiver and told him: “In case of medical impediment or whatever, here is my waiver. You have it”. I don’t know who Bertone gave it to”, continued Francesco: “Now maybe – he added with a hint of irony – someone will go and ask Bertone: ‘Give me that letter’”.
Renunciation only for impediment
Francis, therefore, does not exclude renunciation. But only “in case of medical impediment” or similar. Other Popes had already left a similar document: he did Pius XII when he feared being kidnapped by Hitlerhe did Paul VI when faced with health problems. John Paul II he evaluated the matter but resolved to remain in government until his last breath. A choice with a mystical flavour, which however had problematic implications: the victim of an attack three years after his election, in 1981, and then in recent years with Parkinson’s advancing, Karol Wojtyla delegated many decisions to a pervasive and non-pervasive Roman Curia without opacity.
Years later, the Pope who came “almost from the end of the world“, cleaned up and resized the Vatican bureaucracy. If there is one certainty, it is that he will never delegate the Petrine “munus”, assigned to him by the Holy Spirit through the cardinal electors, to the Roman Curia, rather he would resign. But – this is a possible subtext of his recent statements – not because of a simple mobility problem (“he governs himself with his head, not with his knees”) or, for example, because there is no longer a Pope Emeritus.
There is no shortage of commitments on the agenda: the next trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, at the beginning of February, the probable trip, “in a year”, to Marseilles, as he said in the same interview with Abc, and the intention, “in two years”, to appoint a woman to head a Vatican dicastery. Then there is the great global synod to bring to a conclusion, with the final assembly already set for October 2024. Honoring the memory of his predecessor, and firmly in the saddle.