Sandro Magister believes that Pope Francis is not popular among the Bishops:
With the appointment as president of Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, after that of the secretary general three years ago, Pope Francis now has full control of the Italian episcopal conference, one third of whose bishops have been installed by him, even in dioceses of the first rank like Bologna, Palermo, the vicariate of Rome, and soon also Milan.
Appointments are a key element in the strategy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio. It should suffice to look at how he is reshaping in his image the college of cardinals, which in the future will elect his successor. After the latest batch of cardinals, announced one week ago for the end of June, chances are slimmer that the next pope could mark a return to the past.
Italy aside, however, winning the agreement of the bishops is anything but easy for Francis.
The only national episcopates that he can count on today are those of Germany, Austria, and Belgium, nations in which the Catholic Church is in the most dramatic decline.
While on the contrary the more vital Churches of Africa are those that stood together, in the two combative synods on the family, against the innovations desired by the pope.
If one then looks at the Americas, both North and South, the picture appears even more unfavorable for the pope.
In Canada, the six bishops of the region of Alberta have publicly taken a position against the go-ahead given by Francis to communion for the divorced and remarried, while in the United States the episcopal conference last November elected as its president Cardinal Daniel N. Di Nardo, precisely one of the thirteen cardinals of the memorable protest letter that infuriated Bergoglio at the beginning of the last synod.
In the American media, this election was covered as a referendum on Pope Francis, and there was reason for this. One year before, on a visit to the United States, Francis had ordered the bishops to change course and to get into step with him; and he had accompanied these commands with a series of appointments close to his mentality, in the first place that of Blase J. Cupich as archbishop of Chicago and as cardinal.
But if there was a referendum, Bergoglio lost it altogether. In the preselection for the appointment of the president, out of ten candidates elected only one to his liking made it in. And the elections of the vice-president – archbishop of Los Angeles José H. Gómez, a member of Opus Dei – and of the heads of the commissions were also contrary to the pope’s expectations.
Even in Latin America, Bergoglio has few admirers.
In Colombia the bishops did not like – and they let him know this – the prejudicial support that Francis gave for the “yes” in the referendum on an agreement with the guerrillas of the FARC, an agreement that many bishops judged as a surrender and that in effect was rejected by the popular vote.
In Bolivia the bishops simply cannot stand the blatantly friendly relationship between Bergoglio and “cocalero” president Evo Morales, their bitter enemy especially since they publicly accused the “high structures” of the state of connections with drug trafficking.
In a Venezuela plunged into catastrophe, there is sadness and anger every time President Nicolás Maduro lashes out against them while appealing to Pope Francis, whose support he boasts having. And unfortunately for the bishops, the words spoken by the pope in commenting on the Venezuelan crisis during his latest in-flight press conference, on the way back from Cairo, sounded too benevolent toward the president and malevolent toward the opposition.
Go here to read the rest. It has often been noted that Conclaves often choose a Pope as a commentary on the prior Pope. PopeWatch believes that the next conclave will choose as Pope a Cardinal as unlike Pope Francis as it is humanly possible to be.
“It has often been noted that Conclaves often choose a Pope as a commentary on the prior Pope. PopeWatch believes that the next conclave will choose as Pope a Cardinal as unlike Pope Francis as it is humanly possible to be.”
May that Conclave come quickly, Lord Jesus.
It’s clear that many bishops who are horrified by the pontiff are taking a “this, too, shall pass” approach.
Whereas the pontiff is taking a “*You* shall pass and I shall appoint your successor
approach. Smart money is on the head of the personality cult. Which means much tribulation, pain, and bleeding out for the Church.
“Smart money is on the head of the personality cult.”
Depends. At his age and rumors swirling about his health, I wouldn’t take bets as to him being around four years hence.
There may well be bishops and cardinals who agree with this Pontiff on some issues but will absolutely NOT want another like him. I believe that there is resentment among bishops of the clout wielded by the Germans. The Church is undergoing chastisement and none of us knows when it will end.
“PopeWatch believes that the next conclave will choose as Pope a Cardinal as unlike Pope Francis as it is humanly possible to be.”
I wouldn’t be so sure of that. First of all, Francis is packing the the ranks of the cardinalate with those who are board with his agenda. And secondly, the episcopate in the west, which includes the cardinals, is on the hard left, at least when it comes to the so-called social justice issues. And that’s what even the more orthodox bishops seem to care more about than anything. Perhaps they didn’t intend to elect someone so doctrinally left as Bergoglio. But even if in fact not much was known him personally, the fact that he is from Latin America (which means you assume leftist until proven otherwise), they wanted a leftist and thought it was worth the risk. After all, the bishops of the west know full well that the hard left positions they take on issues like the death penalty, immigration, and the economy undercut any efforts they make to promote doctrinal orthodoxy. But yet they do it anyway, even going out of their way to misrepresent views that disagree with their own.
Like I have said before, this pontificate is not the cause of the leftward lurch of the Church hierarchy and its institutions. It is the product of it!
I think Pope Francis was elected because almost all the Cardinals knew almost nothing about him rather than being enthusiastic for a leftward move in the Church. Based upon news reports at the time the Cardinals could well have assumed that he was firmly orthodox.
Donald, like I said the default assumption of any cleric from Latin America, especially high ranking clerics, is that they are leftists. Everyone knows that! Why do you think leftists have been clamouring for a pope from Latin America for all these years? Pope Francis has definitely answered that question.
As I recall the stories about Pope Francis at the time was that while an economic liberal he was hard core against gay marriage and abortion. This report from the National Catholic Reporter was typical at the time:
“Bergoglio is a supporter of the social justice ethos of Latin American Catholicism, including a robust defense of the poor.
“We live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most yet reduced misery the least,” Bergoglio said during a gathering of Latin American bishops in 2007. “The unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers.”
Yet he is also known as a staunch defender of the church’s traditional sexual teachings, opposing abortion, same-sex marriage and contraception.
In 2010, he said gay adoption is a form of discrimination against children, earning a public rebuke from Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.”
The Cardinals bought a pig in a poke and a very surly and unorthodox pig it has turned out to be.
He also proposed coming out for civil unions to Argentine Bishops Conference, but got shot down.
“PopeWatch believes that the next conclave will choose as Pope a Cardinal as unlike Pope Francis as it is humanly possible to be.”
Let us pray that you are right Donald. Pope Francis is the most dangerous man in the world today, endangering Catholic souls and the world at large with his false views on economics, politics and Islam.