Between conspiracies, a “war” for succession and delicate health, Pope Francis is approaching his eleventh year of pontificate

Pope francesco On Wednesday the 13th he will celebrate eleven years of pontificate with his delicate health and an aggressive attack by traditionaliststhat in an anonymous article entitled “The Vatican of tomorrow” which is widely circulating, They accuse him of “autocracy, vindictive and confused”, and having left the Church “more fractured than at any time in its recent history.”

It is evident that the permanent conspiracy of the far right against Jorge Bergoglio, 87 years old, he once again threw himself into the fight weaken the position of the Argentine pontiff. He also wants to take advantage of the difficulties that force Francis to suspend speeches, to show his outpatient problems in audience and to suspend important trips, as happened in November, when he had to cancel his visit to Doha for the important United Nations world meeting on changes climate.

The illnesses suffered by the Pope they are not seriousbut they need rest something that has so far been denied to deal with daily activities at least twelve hours. And this year looks overwhelming, with two long trips (one to Argentina) in prospect.

The message was sent to the cardinals of the Church, especially to voters under 80. who will have to choose Francis’ successor and that the majority sympathizes with the progressives. Translated into six languages, it is a blueprint for what the next Pope should do to overcome the permanent opposition between conservatives and progressives.

“The confusion generates divisions and conflicts. It damages trust in the word of God. It weakens evangelical testimony. “The next pontificate will have to recover and re-establish the truth that has been slowly obscured or lost by many Christians.”

The anonymousattributed to a cardinal which summarizes the interventions of the other cardinals who helped him create the defamation, explains seven priorities that should guide the next Pope who should be elected upsetting the current large Bergoglian majority of voters under 80 who vote in the Conclave to elect the new pontiff.

The anonymous person underlines that “current authoritarianism” must end. The Pope “is Peter’s successor and guarantor of the unity of the Church. But He is not an autocrat and cannot change the doctrine of the Church. He must not invent or arbitrarily alter Church discipline. He governs the Church collegially with his brother bishops in local dioceses, in faithful continuity with the word of God and the teachings of the Church.

The Church “is neither an autocracy nor a democracy”. It belongs to Christ.

The third priority emphasizes that “ambiguity is neither evangelical nor welcoming. It generates doubts and fuels schismatic impulses.” The Church must be a community of belief. “What we believe helps define and sustain us.” The anonymous person criticizes “the impositions of insensitive doctors of the law”, whom he does not identify. Cite cases that demonstrate the extent to which these reflections are made They come from within the high structures of the Church.

In this sense the booklet states that “the next Pope must restore the centrality of canon law which orders the life of the Church, harmonizes its institutions and guarantees the rights of believers”.

This is a criticism that the most conservatives have directed at the Pope and his reformist vocation. He says: «Among the signs of the current pontificate is its excessive dependence on motu proprio as an instrument of government and a general lack of attention to and distaste for canonical details.”

He also criticizes Bergoglio, the first Jesuit Pope in the history of the Church, an excess of ties with the Society of Jesus.

The spread of the anonymous traditionalist has multiplied opinions and controversies in the vast world of far-right Catholic sites. And there are those who believe that in reality behind the cardinals who would have drafted the document that points to the future Conclave and the reorganization of Francis’ opponents and the progressives, there are the usual ones.

First of all the American cardinal Raymond Burke, whom the Pope harshly punished four months ago. leaving him without his salary of over 4000 euros per month and his free luxury apartment near the Vatican.

The anonymous person also harshly attacks the fact that the Church is reduced “to a flexible system of ethics, reshaping itself to adapt to sexual instincts, appetites and confusions. “One of the main flaws of the current pontificate is its move away from a demanding “theology of the body” at a time of growing attacks on nature and human identity”.

The traditionalist document could not leave out the Vatican itself, the central government of the Church, “which has an urgent need for renewal and cleaning of its institutions, its procedures and its personnel”. It also requires “a profound reform of its finances.”

Some think that part of the document was “cooked” in the Vatican environments, where there are groups of monsignors and above all those opposed to Francis. The text reads like this Internal problems “are not small things. They ask for the presence, direct attention and personal commitment of each new Pope.”

The anonymous person also underlines this “The College of Cardinals must be reformed”. He states that “men of character, strong theological training, mature leadership experience and personal holiness” are needed.

It is also necessary “a Pope willing to ask for advice and listen”.

He underlines that “the current pontiff has placed emphasis on the diversification of the College of Cardinals, but has failed to bring the cardinals together in regular consistories to promote authentic collegiality and trust among the brothers.” As a result, many of the voters who will vote in the next conclave “don’t really know each other and could be vulnerable to manipulation.”

The anonymous person launches a sort of appeal to “today’s cardinals” who need to be activated to “get to know each other and better understand the situation of the local Churches”.

Changes in the Pope election system?

The most read sites of traditionalist American Catholics, such as “The Pillar” and “The Rest”, They wrote that Pope Francis intended to do so modify the system of election of the Pope and would prepare to enter the Conclave to the laity.

In the Vatican, “The Remnant” notes, a document is being prepared in which it is estimated that at least the 25% of future conclaves will not wear the cardinal’s purple.

but it arrived the denial. This was formally denied by Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, 81 years old, a Jesuit and a great expert in canon law. «It is a lie to say that I am preparing a document on the Conclave. It is false that I met the Pope to discuss it. “I know nothing about this matter.”

On the Conclave that will elect the future Pope the greatest conspiratorial activity of the traditionalists is concentrated be able to successfully torpedo the current situation of a large presumed majority of followers of the progressive line of the Church led by the Pope.

In the last Town Hall, convened last September, Francis has appointed 21 new cardinal electors, under 80 years old.

Of the 134 cardinal electors, 97 were created by the pontiff, 72.4% of the total. This large majority seems to guarantee the election of a future progressive Pope, but the traditionalists have powerful resources to deploy. The anonymous “The Vatican of Tomorrow” is the latest tool compact the opposing cardinals to Francisco’s management in what a Roman newspaper summarized “the beginning of the Conclave war”.