they are satisfied ten years of pontificate of Pope Francis. Jorge Bergoglio was elected on the evening of March 13, 2013 at the age of 76. it was already there waived due to age limits as cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires and his election to the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican took place in the climate of anxiety that his predecessor Benedict XVI, the German Joseph Ratzinger, had caused a month earlier when he resigned from office.
Ten years after the last phase of his pontificate, going through a difficult year. On the last day of 2022 Ratzinger died in the convent where he lived in the Vatican gardens at the age of 95, just three months ago.
It means that the pontificate of the Jesuit Bergoglio, who chose the name of Francis, was conditioned for many years by the only case in history of the last seven centuries of governing the destinies of the Church of 1,300 million baptized people, with the previous Pope still alive.
Also Benedict XVI he had chosen to remain pope with the title of emeritus, which encouraged conspiracies and attacks by the more conservative and traditionalist sectors, which pointed to the existence of two popes, even though Joseph Ratzinger always insisted on the fact that «there is only one pope».
This conditioning has been masterfully piloted by Pope Francis and will not be repeated because there will be no new pope emeritus in the Church. The experience of the Ratzinger case is enough. Jorge Bergoglio himself, who one day raised the question of his resignation in various interviews, clarified that if he were to leave, his title will be Bishop Emeritus of Rome.
Surely if the problem arises, the current Pope will produce a new legislation contemplate the resignation of the pontiff. The issue is a renewing innovation of the Church, a great merit of Joseph Ratzinger, a conservative who has committed himself to his gesture a historic change in the 2,000-year life of the Church.
Years and three months after his predecessor’s close presence in an institution that affirms the character of absolute power of the reigning Pope, Jorge Bergoglio is now piloting the Church as he enters a future that appears stormy due to internal conflicts.
synods
In addition to the Jubilee Holy Year which will be celebrated next year, Francisco righted the Catholic ship in a phase clearly focused on two Synods of Synods, worldwide assemblies of bishops who will face problems and challenges that the Church has to face.
Synods were created by the Second Vatican Council, which convened the formidable John XXIII in the 1960s and which reconciled the Church with the modern world.
Traditionalists throw everything on the Council’s decisions for its reforms, which were clever modernizations and they left the structure of the doctrine impregnable.
Jorge Bergoglio fully identifies his pontificate with the teachings of that Council.
After the death of John XXIII, who entrusted the mission of carrying out the conciliar decisions to his successor Paul VI, the 27 world synods of bishops took place, which have now become the “synodal path” which will mark the final phase of Francis’ pontificate.
bergoglio he accentuated his struggle for the modernizations of the Church and the reforms it considers inevitable. But though traditionalists chide him, no change so far basic doctrinal.
The tradition of the immobile Church remains firm on this level. Only in the Synods on families of 2014 and 2015 was a doctrinal reform approved. Changed the ban for divorced and remarried Catholics who were denied confession to full access to the sacraments upon full return to church.
With a convoluted footnote to the final document, it was authorized that the bishops could decide after a long process of recovery authorize those Catholics to confess and be able to take communion.
Resistance to fundamental changes was highlighted when the Amazon Synod of Bishops was held in 2018. promised to be a revolutionary assembly in the life of the Church.
The Synod approved measures such as the creation of the viri probati, that existed in the early Christian churches. They were Catholic householders, of advanced age, who could receive priestly ordination in places where there was a great shortage of priests.
The Synod also approved measures that made things easier for women go up to the altar during the celebrations and approved female access to the diaconate.
These fundamental changes They did not appear in the final document of that Synod of the Amazon. The Argentine Pope it did not include any of these measures.
The Theology of the People
In the first phase of his life as a Jesuit in Buenos Aires, Bergoglio elaborated ideas on this matter favor the suburbs to the central areas of Catholicism. Contrary to Liberation Theology, he was one of the promoters in Argentina of The Theology of the People.
His 40 trips out of Italy as Pope demonstrated these beliefs, favoring small countries and from the periphery of the world.
This vocation is reflected in its continuous assistance to support refugees and the “least” of the planet. He believes that the Church is profoundly called by Christ’s mandate a give priority to love and help for the poor.
His creations of cardinals also followed the same path. Few assignments in central countries, many in the peripheries. By the way, this policy helped him get Bergoglian majority in the College of Cardinals. Those under the age of 80 vote for the new Pope. He already has almost an absolute majority.
“World War in Pieces”
Another central argument boils down to a single, terrible word: war. For at least two years, Francis has been arguing that the world is already fighting a “piecemeal world war”.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine seems to have finally proved him right. Constant threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country will resort to atomic weapons if it faces a challenge to its existence allow Francis to express that World War III is beginning.
The Third World War has one characteristic: no one can win it and the very existence of the planet and its 8 billion inhabitants may not survive the saturation of nuclear devices.
To travel to Russia and be able to undertake mediation leading to peace or, at least, a prolonged armistice, is an ambition which Bergoglio often confesses. Putin doesn’t say no, but he doesn’t say yes either.
He another more troubled country For Jorge Mario Bergoglio Sívori, the son of an Italian Piedmontese couple who emigrated to Argentina, which he familiarly calls “my land”, it is precisely his.
He has never been able to go on a trip and boy would he have loved it. If you die without fulfilling this wish, in which you apparently believe little today, he will be the first pope of modern times that he never saw his land again native since he was elevated to the office of successor of St. Peter, the first bishop of Rome and founder of the Church of Jesus Christ.
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Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.