Francis' death amazed everyone. He attended the solemn liturgy on Easter Sunday. It seemed that after a long and severe illness he would recover and direct the Church for the next months, or possibly years. And yet you decided otherwise. Today, the Church says goodbye to Pope Francis, 266th successor to Saint Peter and the first always pope from the countries of the global south. The pontificate, which may be called stormy, has come to an end: started in a hard situation caused by Benedict XVI; conducted in an increasingly dangerous global situation; surrounded by hopes of reform, but at the same time full of fundamental doctrinal tensions.
Papal Resignations
When Pope Francis took the office of Peter on March 13, 2013, he had to explain that he was the real Pope. specified things did not happen to his predecessors! Many Catholics could not cope with the unusual reality: although the fresh Vicar of Christ is already sitting on the throne, Joseph Ratzinger inactive lives, claiming to be an “emerged pope”...Franciszek ruled in the shadow of the “emeritus” for almost 9 years, and this was not only about his image and credibility, but besides about his decisions. 1 of the critical moments occurred in July 2021 erstwhile Jorge Mario Bergoglio announced the motu proprio "Traditionis custodes" of the conventional liturgy. The Pope seemed to be positioning himself against the Pope. specified tensions for millions of believers around the planet were a real shock.
Despite these hard experiences with Benedict XVI, Francis was besides referring to resignation. Fortunately, he never did. possibly he was dissuaded from this by a esteemed canonist, the Jesuit Gianfranco Ghiralnd, in 2022 endowed by the pope with a cardinal's biret. Right after the resignation of Benedict XVI Ghirland, he published a comprehensive, analytical article in which he pointed out many serious problems involving the popes' appointment of office. The argument was impressive. A akin position was later taken by the prominent historian of the Church, Cardinal Walter Brandmüller. another purples, even though they were prefects of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Gerhard Ludwig Müller, were besides dissuaded of Francis' resignation. The death of Pope Francis, nevertheless painful, in a sense restores matters to their appropriate course. Although resignation is possible, the aftermath of St. Peter should not in rule be temporary, but just for life.
Teaching Pope Francis
Pope Francis left many texts behind. Catholics around the planet will now be able to read them in a spirit of calm reflection, without the force that everyday church policy produces. There will be many valuable thoughts among them, especially the last years of the pontificate. The doctrinal declaration “Dignitas infinita” on human dignity, which was prepared by the prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the religion by the cardinals under Francis. Victor Manuel Fernández will stay a light in the increasingly hard bioethic debates we have in the West. The last papal encyclical "Dilexit nose", about the love of the human and God's Sacred Heart of Jesus, will besides be encouraged to express beautiful expressions of piety. Believers will besides most likely discover many valuable thoughts and indications in Francis' earlier writings, specified as the encyclical “Laudato si” about the relation of man with the planet created by God, in many ways truly interesting.
Francis' legacy, however, is not limited to these texts. I'm not here from all the very sensational speeches that the Pope has made on board airplanes or during talks with journalists. His authoritative papers have besides frequently led to deep shocks in the Church. This began with the publication of the Apostolic Adhortation “Amoris laetitia” in 2016. Its teaching on the function of human conscience and how to respond to a number of ethical challenges has been and will long be the subject of fierce intra-ecclesiastical disputes. Shortly after the announcement of this document, the 4 cardinals asked the pope for explanations in the form of "dubs", which they had never obtained. The Church is inactive waiting for an authoritative explanation of the nature and appropriate meaning of the papal recommendations of the “Amoris laetitia”. The same is actual in respective another cases. This is, for example, the problem of giving "non-lithurgical blessing" to single-sex unions created by the declaration "Fiducia supplicans" of December 2023. This is besides a question of interreligious dialogue. The Abu Zhabi Declaration and its related construction of a three-religious temple complex ("The home of the Abrahamic Family") in the same city rise very serious doctrinal objections.
Who will take the throne of St. Peter?
Catholics will anticipate these hard issues to be explained by the successor of Francis. Who will be? celebrated English-speaking Vaticanists Edward Pentin and Diane Montagna indicate 12 circumstantial names. These are Cardinals: Angelo Bagnasco; Pietro Parolin; Pierbattista Pizzaballa; Matteo Zuppi; Jean-Marc Aveline; Anders Arborelius; Peter Erdő; Willem Eijk; Charles Bo; Malcolm Ranjith; Luis Tagle; Robert Sarah. another calculations can be found naturally in the network. For example, Italian writer Gaetano Masciullo, author of books on modernism and the Church, besides points to specified figures as Cardinals Gerhard Müller and Raymond Burke or Kurt Koch and Fridolin Ambongo.
None of these need, of course, truly be Pope. Francis profoundly redesigned the College of Cardinals. He called to him many fresh purples, frequently from completely unexpected places. It is adequate to remind that in 2022 he gave the Cardinal's Prefect of the Apostolic of Ulan Bator in Mongolia, Giorgi Marengo; in 2024 he incorporated a young Greek Catholic bishop from Australia, Mykoła Byczok. erstwhile a rather large number of cardinals from many Asian countries add up to this, it is hard to foretell who the required majority of 2/3 cardinals will vote for. In this case, the specified predictions of the Vaticanists may simply fail.
Challenges. global policy and improvement AI
In any case, the future Pope will face many serious challenges. Not the ecclesiastical reality, but the global situation, can lead to the foreground. all day we anticipate an agreement between the United States and the Russian Federation on Ukraine. A fresh architecture of planet safety is being drawn. The Catholic Church is powerfully active in diplomacy between the various parties to the global game. The successor of Francis will gotta pay quite a few attention in order to keep appropriate proportions here and not fall victim to the politics of this or any another power, willing to instrumentalize the Church for its purposes. So far, despite the many controversy surrounding the Vatican's position towards the war in Ukraine or the mediate East, this nonsubjective has fundamentally been achieved. This must be continued carefully.
Another key area will be the improvement of artificial intelligence. In January of that year, 2 Vatican dicasters published a memo “Antiqua et nova” on this issue. This is an crucial and essential text, due to the fact that the challenges AI poses to humanity are truly big. At stake in this game is the self-understanding of humanity, and hence besides a large policy. Can human communities be dealt with and managed by AI to “optimize” them according to top-down ideological assumptions? Where is the limit of dehumanisation of a person, "improved" by fresh technological solutions? It is frequently said that artificial intelligence is only at the beginning of development. If this is the right observation, the coming years will require the pope to be continually ready to take a stand in this field, so as to remind of the human dignity and nature given to man by God.
To the fresh council?
In intra-ecclesiastical matters, the synodical process comes first. Although Pope Francis was able to close his direct deliberations in October 2024, the improvement he initiated has only just begun. At the beginning of last year, peculiar synod commissions began work, preparing very detailed proposals for changes in the Church, including in canon law. Many observers believe that with the synodical process itself this looks simply to prepare for the fresh universal council – even if its form was someway different from all another councils known to us. According to the plan adopted by Francis, synod commissions are expected to finish work in the mediate of this year. Their recommendations and suggestions will be placed on the desk of the fresh Pope. He will decide what to implement immediately in life and what to think about further. In the meantime, these are truly serious issues: the way the bishop of Rome exercises primacy, doctrinal and moral decentralization, the competence of bishops, the function of women in the life of the Church. The material for the large and long council, if only the fresh pope wanted it, would indeed be missing.
It besides seems a substance of first rank to effort to reconcile the Church... with itself. For decades, the gap between what has been taught before the Second Vatican Council and what is being preached present has become increasingly heard. The improvement of church doctrine is apparent and legitimate, but authentic improvement excludes breakup. In the meantime, it is in key areas specified as liturgy, interreligious dialog and moral discipline that we are dealing with. Millions of Catholics in the planet hope that the future Pope will take extended action to fill the gap between the Church and its own Tradition. This gap was due to many hastily decisions by popes, cardinals and bishops; unusual efforts to “pull” the present.
Will the successor of Francis want to take up this task? The composition of the College of Cardinals suggests that the future Bishop of Rome may share the view of a more progressive part of the planet episcopal and proceed the processes of a sometimes revolutionary nature. That would be very dangerous. Therefore, as average believers, we should pray to the Lord in these days not only for the soul of Pope Francis. We must besides ask him that the shepherds of the Church be authentically open to the voice of the Holy Spirit, without confusing him with the voice of the spirit of time. Let us do so, trusting in Our woman of Fatima's announcement of the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart.
Paweł Chmielewski
