Doubts about the Pope’s health are shaking in versions about his succession

Pope Francis, who told a wheelchair he did not want to be operated on and the anesthesia was giving him “distraction”, installed Matteo Zuppi, 66, Cardinal of Bologna, as the new president of the difficult Italian Episcopal Conference traditionally in hand. conservative. The appointment is there taste of succession

“Don Matteo”, as Zuppi likes to be called, is currently an avant-garde character progressive wing of the Churchin accordance with the ideas of Jorge Bergoglio, who said that what he wanted was the protagonist of “a good change ” in the most important council of bishops in the world, because its natural leader is the Pope Bishop of Rome.

Francisco’s right knee and hip problems, which for the first time make it difficult in the full capacity that he must fulfill the harsh obligations of the Head of the Church, an ultra-centralized religion in which there is no vice pope, are increasing versions of succession of a pontiff who will be 86 on Dec. 17.

Beyond the movement problems, Bergoglio does not seem to have any health complications.

Versions were weakened when the Pope told bishops gathered to appoint his new president that he did not want to be operated on and explained that he had “annoyances” due to anesthesia after the colon surgery he underwent in July. 4 last year, when 30 centimeters of his large intestine were removed due to a severe diverticula infection.

canceled trips

A serious problem is travel. The Pope canceled some and confirmed he would travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan in early July. An apostolic visit to Canada will follow between July 24 and 30.

But the travels, which were a very important part of his papacy’s style and content, can be seen in reality, conditioned by the treatment of infiltrations and rehabilitation therapies he receives on his right knee.

The pain seems gone or very weak, but it should be remembered doctors are in favor of surgical intervention to place a prosthesis on a sore knee.

The problem is complicated. In 1994 Bergoglio underwent surgery on his right hip in Buenos Aires. They fitted him with a prosthesis, but his posture and gait due to the painful sciatica he was experiencing resulted in his malfunction in his right knee.

An operation for cartilage wear and ligament rupture takes less than an hour and has a postoperative period of one month, with intense rehabilitation that will set her up in just a week after the surgical intervention.

But some medical luminaries believe that if osteoarthritis is also formed in the hip, there will be two required operations and the second is the most complicated, with rehabilitation that can take three months.

The “interruptions” of anesthesia expressed by the Pope to the Italian bishops complicate the decisions.

Until now, it has been argued in Vatican circles that the Pope’s decision to expand the Church’s borders justifies the approach of supporting Filipino Cardinal Luis “Chito” Tagle, former Archbishop of the Philippines, whom Francis promoted in the strategic position. of the Prefect of the Church Congregation for the Evangelization of the People, which discusses the missions of the Church.

Succession candidate?

Zuppi’s appointment adds a new candidate who could bolster the support of the Italian cardinals, who have not yet been acquainted with Bergoglio’s ideas.

Cardinals who think the time is not yet ripe for change in conjunction with the election of an Asian Pope can also join.

Opponents to the right of Bergoglio, led by the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, focused their fight to prevent the posthumous victory of the Argentine Pope, in a conspiracy work about the cardinals entering the Conclave to choose a successor.

For the first time, the Pope of the Consistory did not call last year to create new cardinal electors, who have the right to vote under the age of 80, established by Paul VI’s reform.

A maximum of 120 voters has also been established, which this year will drop to 110 due to the age limit. It is expected that in the coming months the Pope will convene a new Consistory.

Most got it in 2019, the year in which Matteo Zuppi was made cardinal.

Currently, the cardinals created by Bergoglio are 75 out of a total of 110 voters.

If at the next Consistory he makes another eleven, he will reach an absolute majority of 86 in the Conclave. And in 2023 another 11 cardinal electors will be 80, giving Bergoglio enough space for maneuvering to confirm a clear majority of the cardinals corresponding to the programs of his pontificate.

Who is Matteo Zuppi?

But, beyond these calculations: Who is Cardinal Matteo Zuppi? He was a 66 -year -old Roman. His father was a journalist, his mother was a niece of the famous Cardinal Carlo Confalonieri, a high figure in the Roman Curia. He attended State University where he graduated at age 22 in correspondence before entering major seminary.

Zuppi’s life, where everyone speaks well and has a character that facilitates human communication, is closely associated with the Community of Sant’Egidio, which now has a branch in Argentina and the most important secular movement in the Churchmoved Communion and Liberation.

When he was a student, he became friends with Andrea Riccardi, the founder of the Community, and for more than a decade he was parish priest in the basilica of Trastevere, next to the central house of Sant’Egidio. He participated in peace negotiations in Mozambique successfully intervened by the community.

In 2012 he was appointed bishop and three years later the new Argentine Pope elevated him to the bishopric of Bologna, in central Italy. Jorge Bergoglio promoted him to cardinalate in 2019.

“I’ve always dedicated myself to the latter, the socially marginalized: the poor, migrants, drug addicts,” he said.

In recent years tried to facilitate the integration of immigrants and for achieving more welcoming treatment of homosexuals in the Church.

“When in our communities we seriously begin to see people as God sees them, then homosexual people and everyone else will naturally begin to feel part of the community,” he wrote.

This year, Zuppi intervened at the May Day party in Bologna and delivered the homily at the funeral of the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, who has long been his friend.

In Rome, Cardinal Zuppi grew up with friendships cultivated in so-called “democratic Catholicism” which included Sassoli and in which the most important “ragazzi” led the middle-left Democratic Party, which prevailed over the old militants of the lost. and the Communist Party. One of them is Enrico Letta, the party secretary, a friend of Zuppi’s youth.

As president of the Episcopal Conference of Italy, Zuppi will intervene on key questions of public debate. This is going to be a big change because the national assembly of bishops has traditionally been in more conservative hands for decades.

His most important urgent issue was the decision promised by Italian bishops to open an investigation into thousands of cases of sexual abuse by members of the clergy, as some Catholic churches in the world have done.

Vatican correspondent

CB