Benedict’s death tipped to spur allies to challenge Pope Francis
Conservative critics could now be emboldened to try to succeed the Pope, analysts speculate.
The death of Benedict XVI could deepen divisions at the top of the Catholic Church by both “removing a brake” from Pope Francis and emboldening his conservative critics to try to succeed him, analysts said.
Giuseppe Rusconi, a Vatican journalist, said on Tuesday that the death of Benedict at the age of 95 last week would have consequences for his conservative followers, and for his more progressive successor.
“The conservatives have been weakened by [his] death but they will now feel authorised to be more openly critical of Pope Francis, while Francis will no longer feel overshadowed by Pope Benedict and be free to cross new boundaries in his reforms,” he said. “A brake has been removed, both as regards the conservatives’ criticisms and the radical quality of Francis’ reforms.”
Benedict’s death could also clear the way for Francis, 86, to resign.
Sandro Magister, another Vatican observer, said that there was a void on the conservative wing of the church, and predicted a competitive “free-for-all” in the Vatican, with different agendas jostling for influence.
He said that Benedict’s presence in the Vatican after his retirement had acted as a check on Francis and his supporters. “We are in a phase of confusion now, the opposite of the clear, limpid, rational thought of Pope Benedict,” he said. Of the 132 cardinals aged under 80, and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope, 83 were appointed by Francis. About a dozen cardinals, mainly senior conservatives, will lose the right to vote over the course of the coming year.
Rusconi does not expect Francis to retire soon. “He wants to continue his work of making the church more acceptable to the contemporary world, an operation not without risk,” he said.
Magister said: “His activism is remarkable for a man of his age. His diary is packed with engagements.”
Among the Pope’s commitments are a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan at the end of this month, a visit to Portugal in August and a synod in Rome on the future of the church to be held in two parts.
However, the Pope had a colon operation in July 2021 and has been largely confined to a wheelchair in recent months because of a painful knee, the result of osteoarthritis.
Robert Mickens, editor in chief of La Croix International, a Catholic newspaper, expects Francis to resign this year, possibly after the October synod. He said the Pope was having difficulty with unscripted speech, sometimes slipping into Spanish expressions and rambling. “He’s way overweight, which doesn’t help his knee problem,” he said.
Tens of thousands of Catholics queued for hours to pay their last respects to Benedict, who died on Saturday. The Vatican said 65,000 people filed past his body on the first day it lay in state in St Peter’s Basilica, twice as many as expected.
Mickens said that ultra-conservative political leaders and representatives of European royalty would be at Benedict’s funeral tomorrow (Thursday), because he “represents a Europe that is no longer or is slipping away. His funeral brings down the curtain on an era.”
Although Francis may have stacked the deck in favour of church liberals with his appointments to the college of cardinals, it was impossible to predict who might emerge as pope from the next conclave, he said. “I know conservatives are working right now, trying to influence the succession.”
The Times
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