Pearls and Irritations

Again, the question arises: could Francis retire? If he were to do so, it would make papal resignations normal.

Pope Francis turns 88 on Dec. 17. Depending on how one keeps score, that will make him something like the fifth or sixth oldest man ever to occupy the Chair of Peter.

According to legend, Pope Saint Agatho holds the all-time record. A Benedictine hermit from Sicily, he was supposedly 104 years old (some say perhaps even 107) when he died in the late 7th century as Bishop of Rome. Nonetheless, Agatho, who was called the Wonderworker, had a short reign. He did not even become a cardinal until he was 99 years old. And he was already 101 when elected pope.

More than fourteen centuries later, another 99-year-old finally became a cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. He’s Archbishop Angelo Acerbi, a retired papal nuncio who was among 21 men who received the red hat from Francis during a Dec. 7 consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica.

No one seriously expects that the same fate awaits Acerbi as that of the ancient St. Agatho, though stranger things have happened — some would say even in this current pontificate!

But more than doing strange things, Francis has deliberately been disruptive, putting forth new challenges and instituting reforms of various magnitudes at many different levels throughout the Church.

He’s done this to rouse a tired institution that is helplessly watching its centre of gravity dramatically shift away from Europe towards Africa and Asia. He’s done this to shake the Church from its complacency and self-preservation, its tendency to wallow in self-absorption.

This year’s Advent consistory, the tenth of the Francis pontificate, is the Jesuit pope’s latest “shock to the system.” Among the 20 new cardinals who are under the age of 80, and thus still able to participate in a conclave, are men with a wide variety of talents and experience.

Seventeen are still under the age of 70, 13 of them are 65 or younger, and seven have not yet reached their 60th birthday. These younger members — like Frank Leo, 53, the archbishop of Toronto; Baldassare Reina, 54, vicar of Rome; and Roberto Repole, 57, archbishop of Turin — will likely become increasingly influential in the Church’s life over the coming decades.

The pope certainly expects them to be major actors in ensuring that his ambitious project of synodality takes root throughout the Church. Francis has also chosen impressive, more senior men to be members of the College of Cardinals.

Keep an eye, especially, on two Divine Word Missionaries. The first is Tarcisio Kikuchi, 66, who is archbishop of Tokyo and president of Caritas Internationalis. The second is Ladislav (László) Német, 68, a polyglot Hungarian who is archbishop of Belgrade (Serbia).

But perhaps the most interesting in this otherwise “younger” group is 79-year-old Timothy Radcliffe, the English Dominican and former head of the worldwide Order of Preachers. A scripture scholar and popular author and speaker, he was the chief spiritual director and preacher at the past two Synod assemblies.

Those gatherings focused on ways to make synodality an essential component of the Church’s life, witness and decision-making. By making Radcliffe a cardinal, the Jesuit pope has ensured that the Dominican theologian’s voice will be heard during (or at least in the closed-door meeting before) the next conclave to elect his successor as Bishop of Rome.

And when might that happen? No one — except, perhaps, Francis himself — can say for sure. The first-ever pope to come from the Society of Jesus and the New World is still extremely busy.

But it cannot be denied that he is increasingly showing signs of slowing down. He has good days and, more and more, days that are not so good. He is sometimes short of breath and his voice is audibly weaker, which is only normal.

Still, he is determined to soldier on, some say stubbornly so. Before he marks his 88th birthday, he will not only have held the cardinal-making consistory, but he will also make a day trip to the neighbouring French island of Corsica (roughly a one-hour flight from Rome).

The fact that he decided to go there instead of to Paris for the inauguration of the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral has angered many in France and dismayed some more classical-minded Catholics from around the world.

Their discontent over the “papal snub,” as many have called it, demonstrates that they still have failed to understand what Francis holds as top priority — people (especially those on the existential and spiritual margins), rather than church buildings and artefacts (especially those ornate ones bankrolled for cultural or political reasons).

After blowing out the 88 candles on his birthday cake, the Argentine pope will officially open the Church’s latest Holy Year on Christmas Eve at the Vatican. A few months later — on March 13, specifically — he will mark the 12th anniversary of his election as Bishop of Rome.

That number is especially significant for the Jesuits, whose superiors (with the exception of the Father General in Rome) usually serve terms of six years. Thus, it will be the equivalent of two such terms for Francis, who, in this span of time, has never returned to his “former diocese” (as he likes to call it) in Buenos Aires or to his native Argentina.

For the last several years, he’s occasionally mentioned that he’d like to visit his South American homeland again, “maybe next year.” But “next year” has never come. Perhaps, in the coming months? There has been no serious talk of such a visit, but the pope of surprises could easily decide to make one at the drop of a hat.

One trip abroad seems all but certain — a visit to Turkey to celebrate with the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. Patriarch Bartholomew has said that is likely to take place in May. And then after that?

Again, the question arises: could Francis retire? If he were to do so, it would make papal resignations normal, rather than something that occurs once every six or eight centuries. It would also further demythologise the Roman papacy and give the cardinals greater confidence to choose a younger man for pope with the understanding that he would not cling to office until death.

But if Francis dies before relinquishing the papacy, Benedict XVI’s resignation in 2013 will remain an exception rather than the “institution” that Francis himself has said it should be seen as.

It’s interesting to note that the last Roman Pontiff to resign voluntarily was not Celestine V in 1294, but Gregory XII in 1415. During a time of rival popes, he stepped down in order to end the Western Schism. Next July 4 marks the 610th anniversary of Gregory’s resignation. Incidentally, he was 88 years old.

Courtesy: Sacred Heart University Dec 06 ,2024

Republished from UCA news, Dec, 2024

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