Pope Francis Impact on Church Leadership Ten Years Later.

To see the probable future, we need to understand the past, but in a Catholic way. We say “The Church” failed in handling sexual abuses, among other mistakes. This is meaningless! Still worse, that “we’re all responsible.” The “Church” did not fail native peoples of Americas and Canada, as Francis erroneously claims. Individuals committed those evil acts. Leaders either ignored what they knew or actively covered it up. They failed often formally or informal. Not “The Church.” In fact, many missionaries suffered and died as great martyrs for Christ.

To broaden the guilt like this, only diverts attention from the true problem. In the meantime, the situation is like an infected splinter. Until the splinter comes out, attempts to “heal” the inflammation will fail. We had many expressions of regret and calls for forgiveness. They may calm the waters. However, they will only be effective if the specific causes of the infection and its individual leaders are fully exposed.

It is not enough when civil authorities uncover depraved behavior – although that helps somewhat. The Church itself now has to show that it can hold not only priests, but also and most importantly, bishop leaders who are directly or indirectly responsible. In practical terms, we need a new independent tribunal. In addition, some leadership heads must roll, including episcopal heads, or laypersons will conclude, “We are again talking nonsense!” That will require people in law enforcement dealing with child and seminarian abuses to take action. However, we need journalists who know how criminal networks operate in public life.

Pope Francis has unfortunately shown no urgency about these vital concrete steps. Francis finally met with Cardinal DiNardo in late 2018, one of the leading voices in the clergy sexual crisis. DiNardo?admitted to mishandling the case of a pedophile priest. Francis could have diffused the anger – as he did when he realized he was “part of the problem” in Chile, if he said that the Vatican made some missteps. Instead, especially after the Viganò accusations, he replied that, “a true Christian accuses himself, not others.” That is not appropriate in this context. Then the Vatican then produced a “whitewashed” report, blaming the “messenger” Viganò, who actually revealed these many evil deeds to him much earlier, and the Vatican then blamed recent popes who were aged or deceased and could not defend themselves.

We are not talking about accusing people in the sense of judging them as saved or damned. We must leave final judgements of souls to Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, we must identifying malefactors and enablers so that they do not continue perpetrating evil, and so that victims, who are the first accusers, find mercy – and justice – in the light of truth.

Pope Francis has opened the door for “radical church reform,” but has not fully stepped through that door.

Editor's Note:?If we are to understand Pope Francis, one has to explore his history in Argentina, under the yoke of evil Fascist leaders. His original name was?Jorge Mario Bergoglio, (born December 17, 1936,?Buenos Aires, Argentina). Bergoglio was the son of Italian immigrants to?Argentina. When he was about 21 years old, he suffered a severe bout of pneumonia that led to the removal of part of his right lung. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1958 and then turned to academics, studying?humanities?in?Santiago, Chile, and earning a master’s degree in?philosophy?in Buenos Aires. After graduation, he taught?literature?and?psychology?in high school while pursuing a degree in?theology. He was ordained a priest in 1969, took his final vows in the Jesuit order in 1973, and subsequently served as superior (head) of the Jesuit province of Argentina (1973–79).

Bergoglio’s?tenure?as head of the?country’s?Jesuits?coincided with the military coup in Argentina (1976) led by Lieut. Gen.?Jorge Rafael Videla. During the ensuing?“Dirty War”?(1976–83), a campaign by the country’s military?dictatorship?against leftists (or extreme socialists) between 10,000 and 30,000 people disappeared (kidnapped, tortured, and usually killed) by the military and the police. That’s history!

In the 1980s, Bergoglio served as a seminary teacher and rector and pursued graduate studies in theology in?Germany. He was named?archbishop?of Buenos Aires in 1998, and Cardinal?in 2001. During the economic crisis in Argentina beginning in the late 1990s, which culminated in 2002 in the rapid?devaluation?of the country’s currency, Bergoglio acquired a public reputation for humility, living in a downtown apartment rather than in the archbishop’s residence and traveling by?public transportation?or by foot rather than in a chauffeured limousine. He later became an advocate for the poor and politician, cleverly promoting the church’s position on social matters in meetings with government officials.

[Bergoglio became an extreme socialist in response to fascists, which as pope he continued with his radical leftist philosophy, now with supremacy to implement a socialistic ideology upon thousands of Catholic priests, bishops and Vatican leaders under his authority, which has seriously affected millions of Catholics worldwide.]

The 10th anniversary of the election of Pope Francis offers an opportunity to consider the contributions and missteps of this remarkable pontificate. As a comprehensive assessment is not possible, I will consider contributions of this pontificate to the theology, structure, and exercise of ministry and his authority.

In a little noted?2016 letter?to Cardinal Marc Ouellet in the cardinal's role as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (now retired after being accused of sexual misconduct in Canada), the pope contended that "looking at the People of God is remembering that we all enter the Church as lay people." For the pope, "laicity" is not a negative term, identifying the non-ordained; rather it identifies the fundamental missionary calling conferred upon all of us in baptism:?No one [is] born or baptized a priest or a bishop. “They baptized us as lay people and it is the indelible sign that no one can ever erase.” [Actually, baptism could be erased by grave sins, which are not confessed and redeemed by the mercy of Christ.] It does us good to remember that the Church is not an elite organization of priests, of consecrated men, of bishops, but that everyone forms the faithful Holy People of God.?

Francis has argued for the priority of baptism as an antidote to the association of holy orders with the conferral of power, a contributing factor to the evils of clericalism. In much of his writing, the pope has moved away from the so-called “sin of rigidity of the clergy” allegedly encouraged by his predecessors and toward a more interpersonal understanding of public ministry in the church.??

This radical shift in theology was enforced by institutional adjustments. Francis has opened the instituted ministries of lector and acolyte?to men and women?while also establishing?a new instituted ministry of catechist. These papal initiatives have provided a more formal status and ritual expression to a range of ministries open to the laity. The pope has also determined that non-ordained religious brothers be appointed to major positions of leadership, including those of provincial and even superior general, in communities that include priests. [Perhaps he is recalling times when his Jesuit superiors did not at all favor his promotion.]

The theology, structure, and exercise of authority. Synodality has been the principal theme of this papacy. The pope's attention to the concrete reform of ecclesiastical structures has been uneven. He has made far greater use of episcopal synods than did his post-conciliar predecessors. He has reconfigured the preparation for and conduct of those synods, considerably expanding participation to non-Christians. He has enhanced processes of consultation and created a space for discussion and even disagreement among synodal participants.??Perhaps the most tangible effort at the reform of structures of authority is evident in the long-awaited constitution dedicated to the reform of the Curia, on the feast of St. Joseph, March 19, 2022.

Pope Francis published?Praedicate Evangelium?(Preach the Gospel), his new constitution for the structure of the Roman Curia.?[Yet he has gone against many of original doctrines of the Gospels, including: His public statement that “All faiths are willed by God.” Absolution for all unredeemed sinners. Divorcees may now receive communion. Abortion leaders may also receive Holy Communion. Encouraged same-sex marriage (without church blessing). Church support for LGBQ lifestyles. Mercy for all unrepentant sinners, including an artist priest who was guilty of grave sins against religious nuns.]

What Didn’t Happen? The Secretariat of State remains in its powerful position, meaning that the papal diplomats who staff it remains in principal control over the Vatican agenda and operations.?Praedicate Evangelium?(PE) did not clip its wings, as had been rumored. True enough, in December 2020, much of its financial authority was stripped away in the aftermath of the London property fiasco and banking scandal, but in response to that papal edict, the Secretariat of State did what bureaucracies are good at doing — or not doing. They?simply did not conform. [Francis may have ignored reining in a department that obstinately refused cooperate with his failed financial reforms. But why pick a losing fight?]?The refusal of the Secretariat of State to comply with papal mandates does raise questions about the PE. It goes into effect at Pentecost. Will all Vatican departments comply? There is ample precedent under Pope Francis for the very opposite to happen.

Another long-rumored subject that?Praedicate Evangelium?(PE) did not touch is the authority of the “Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith” (DDF). There was a realignment of the dicastery’s structures, and the PE language for the DDF makes it consultative, but there is no talk of sharing doctrinal authority with other bodies or bishops’ conferences.?

Missionary Conversion: Praedicate Evangelium?returns to the initial vision Pope Francis had for a “missionary conversion” for the entire Church. Indeed, the opening citation of PE is from St. John Paul II’s?Redemptoris Missio?(Mission of the Redeemer), namely that the “proclamation of the gospel” is the “primary service which the Church offers.” [That sounds great. However, why then did Pope Francis decree that the prime role of priests and bishops is not conversion of Muslims, Hindus, Protestants and others to the Catholic faith?]

For generations local Roman parlance for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith was “la Suprema.” No longer. “La Suprema” is now the Dicastery for Evangelization, which combines the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples with the Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. The pope himself will be the prefect of evangelization, just as until 1968 the pope was the head of la Suprema, the Holy Office, which is now DDF. He has given himself the job of “chief missionary of a missionary Church.”

Service of Charity. Praedicate Evangelium?creates a new “Dicastery for the Service of Charity.” The almoner will serve as prefect. It takes on new prominence, being third after Evangelization and DDF of all other dicasteries.?Just as the missionary impulse is a continuation of John Saint Paul II’s teaching on mission, the elevation of charity is a direct echo of Benedict XVI’s teaching in his first encyclical that the Church’s “deepest nature” has a triplex expression: The proclamation of the gospel (kerygma). The worship of God (leitourgia). The service of charity (diakonia). This last mission is reflected in the Roman Curia.?

Dicasteries. Catholics, to the extent that they even talk about the Curia, will have to learn a new lingo. For generations, there were two types of departments. “Congregations” exercised jurisdiction on behalf of the pope. In addition, “Councils” promoting various pastoral initiatives. That is why St. John Paul II in 1988 rejected suggestions to create a Congregation for the Laity. He held that the laity did not need the permission of the Holy See to exercise their mission, unlike a seminary or bishops’ conference or religious institute. A “council” for the laity would promote their vocation without compromising their freedom.?

All that is now gone. Everything is now “dicasteries.” An outward-looking Curia would not employ ecclesiastical jargon that outside of Roman circles has not heard of, let alone uses. [Microsoft’s Word spellchecker offers “disaster” when “dicastery” is defined].

Lay Prefects. Most headlines about PE spoke about the possibility “for the involvement of laywomen and laymen, even in roles of government and responsibility” and that “any member of the faithful can preside over” an office of the Curia. There is already a nonprofessional as head of the Dicastery for Communications, and a priest (not a bishop) as prefect for the economic secretariat, but?Praedicate Evangelium?goes much further, allowing for the possibility for the DDF or Dicastery for Bishops to be headed by a layperson, however unlikely that might be.

Protection of Minors. Praedicate Evangelium?established the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors inside the DDF; previously it was independent. Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, the papal point man for sexual abuse, hailed this as a firmer foundation for the Church’s fight against sexual abuse. It is clearly to be just that. However, it now means that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith will be both an advocacy body and judicial tribunal. Will that mean that “other factors” may bear on the accused whose trials are held by the DDF? Absolutely!

Synodality. This “life of communion gives to the Church the face of synodality,” PE states in its preamble. The Church the world over is learning about synodality as part of the Synod on Synodality. It requires lots of useless meetings. Praedicate Evangelium?envisions a lot more Curial meetings — within dicasteries, between dicasteries, with notes carefully taken, and reports drafted for circulation to other dicasteries. This missionary conversion of the Roman Curia will compete with experts spending a lot more time talking to each other.

It is too soon to know how effective these reforms will be, but this document, if well implemented, could do much to dismantle what has always been a monarchical papacy. Most notable is the pope's assertion that the laity in virtue of a canonical mission may exercise the power of governance. Now, in addition to being members of curia, laypeople can actually lead them. Francis has made it clear that, if authentic church authority is to be a genuine service rather than a burden, the structures and exercise of authority must undergo "decentralization" (Evangelii Gaudium, Paragraph 16). Although he has generally avoided the term itself, we are convinced that the language of "subsidiarity" better articulates the pope's own distinctive understanding and exercise of ecclesial authority.

[Most bishops will not appreciate the loss of decision power in their governance. Moreover, Pope Francis seems to have reversed himself in his objective of decentralization of church authority, when he finally ordered bishops to end of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM).]

Catholics are more familiar with the principle of subsidiarity as it has been employed in Catholic social teaching. However, when applied to the church, the principle might be transposed as follows:?The primary responsibility for the realization of the individual Christian vocation, and the fulfillment of the mission of local ecclesial entities, lies with those individuals and local entities themselves. Only when the realization of these goals appears unattainable at the lower level and/or a local matter threatens the faith and unity of the church universal should there be intervention from higher levels of church authority.?

In the pontificates of both John Paul II and Benedict XVI, there was some reluctance to apply this principle to the life of the church; then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger famously warned of the dangers of a?sociological reductionism. The church is both a human and divine reality. It should not be reduced to a sociological construct, but neither can the church be exempt from the sociological principles that describe all human institutions.??

The primary feature of ecclesial subsidiarity preserves the relative autonomy of ecclesial life and decision-making at local and regional levels. This feature of the principle tracks well with the pope's concern for "decentralization." Consider the pope's promulgation of?Magnum Principium, which returned primary responsibility for the translation of liturgical texts?to episcopal conferences, as Vatican II had intended.

However, we have also seen instances where the pope has acted in accord with the secondary feature of the principle of subsidiarity, the right of higher authority to intervene in the face of local incapacity or in order to preserve the unity of faith and communion. Here we might consider the pope's suspension of ordinations?in the French Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon?or his recent interventions directed?at Opus Dei,?the Knights of Malta, and?the Monastery of Bose?in the face of alleged ecclesiastical dysfunction.

The most severe criticism leveled at this papacy has concerned perceived failures regarding his papal teaching authority. Francis is hardly a conservatve on matters of doctrine. In his 2016 volume?A Church of the Poor, theologian Clemens Sedmak contended, rather, that what we see in this Latin American pope is a "joyful orthodoxy." Although there have been instances where Francis has affected development of church doctrine, as with his radical treatment of the possibility of Eucharistic Communion for some in "irregular" relationships, Francis has generally rejected former church teaching.

The pope does believe that doctrines should not be treated as ends in themselves; they serve us when they draw us into life-giving relationship with Christ. The Gospel need not "always be communicated by fixed formulations learned by heart or by specific words which express an absolutely invariable content" (Evangelii Gaudium, Paragraph 129).

Francis has begun to fulfill John XXIII's call, over 60 years ago, for a genuinely pastoral magisterium. Although the integrity of the Gospel is somewhat preserved, authoritatively in the church's essential dogmatic tradition, in a synodal church it is more often kept alive in the simple expressions the Gospel finds in the lived faith of ordinary believers, what the tradition has referred to as the?sensus fidelium.?

History will likely see the Francis pontificate as groundbreaking radical socialism in a transitional Church. Francis has opened wide a door that might well lead to a reformed church inspired by conciliar teaching but, for the most part, he has been reluctant to step through that door himself. In 2020, Pope Francis commanded that all Catholic Churches be shut down during the most Holy season of Easter, due to the Pandemic. In 2023, will he demand shutting down all Traditional Latin parishes?

I asked a conservative priest during confession, why should anyone pray for Pope Francis when he has affected millions of Christian souls. He convinced me that Francis’s soul is in great jeopardy, so we must all pray that the Holy Spirit may change his direction. While I am not convinced that this is probable, I will continue to pray for the Pope, with the hope that the Holy Spirit will intervene before evil forces ever compromise Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Update to Ten Years of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis foremost positives is that because of his historical experiences with the evil Fascist Government in Argentina, he became a Socialist/Communist Pope (which he freely admits) for the poor disadvantaged people, worldwide. In addition, he became a major advocate for the environment, which he calls “Mother Earth.”

However, as Pontiff for a billion Catholics, he has not focused on saving souls, which is the crucial role of all successors to Peter. Moreover, Francis, similar to his earlier fascists’ opponents, has become one of them, on the opposite end of the political spectrum. ?pope Francis is obviously authoritarian when he became leader of the Church. The "cultural atmosphere" at the Vatican is reportedly one of fear. He taps Vatican phones. He threatens priests and bishops with dismissal from their dioceses (e.g., Leader of Priests for Life, and Bishop in Puerto Rico, etc.). He takes away privileges, such a free apartment rentals for retired “princes of the church” who challenge his decrees. He only promotes liberal bishops who support him to cardinals, and is “stacking the conclave” for the election of the next pope with a majority of liberal socialistic supporters. Pope Francis has appointed a Cardinal, who against Catholic teaching on the sinfulness of sodomy, in charge of the Synod Process.

Perhaps Pope Francis worst dictate is the final closing of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) worldwide in all Bishop Dioceses, during Holy Week of Easter. (TLM rites have been celebrated for more than a thousand years). In addition, many Catholic youths are attracted to the TLM because they enjoy its more passionate nature, its solemn music and greater Christian challenges, which they really desire. (They don't want to become "lukewarm" Christians. The TLM attendance rate among the youth is much greater compared to the New Mass. Why shut down and disappoint our young who will become future Catholic adults? (Moreover, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Saint JPII decreed that the TLM should continue together with the New Mass.)

Nevertheless, we should all continue to pray for the soul of Pope Francis.

See my YouTube on this topic: https://youtu.be/w6_9e2BcqdM