Pope Francis celebrates his 12th anniversary of his pontificate this Thursday. Sadly, he remains at the Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital in Rome, where he was admitted on February 14 for respiratory problems that evolved into bilateral pneumonia.
Although on several occasions his life has been at risk, his prognosis finally improved to stable this week.
Some predicted that he would not reach this celebration and that he would play a role in a “transition” papacy. However, Francis has already surpassed his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who surprised the world with a historic resignation from the seat of St. Peter before completing eight years at the helm of the Church.
It was February 2013, and the German pope was 85 years old. He lived for another decade quietly in the Vatican until his death at the age of 95 in December 2022.
The health status and hospitalization of Pope Francis have highlighted a regulatory gap within the Church that leaves several unresolved issues on the table.
One of them, the most obvious one, is what happens if a Pope cannot continue leading the Church, but has not resigned or passed away either. In such a situation, uncertainty about the Pope’s health increases with each passing day.
Regarding this, Felipe Gaytán Alcalá, professor and researcher at La Salle University and expert in sociology of religion, told Metro that it is not known whether Francis will resign or if they could ask him to step down, and that one can find different signs and meanings in the papacies.
Juan Pablo II, he added, was the pilgrim pope, the traveling pope, but an ideological pope, against communism, etc. Pope Benedict XVI was the theologian pope, being an intellectual. He set the tone, although he was not very charismatic and eventually resigned.
Pope Francis is known as the pastoral pope who seeks to take the church to the streets.
Consider that the 266th pope of the Catholic Church will be remembered for three perceptions.
First, within the Catholic Church, there is the idea of a progressive pope in conflict with the church’s own members, as some have opposed what he has tried to do to reform the Church.
Second, outside the church he will be considered as a pope who sought to be close to the people, who took priests out of the churches to send them to the streets, and who sought certain changes.
Finally, Pope Francis is also called the pope of ambiguity. And it is that on the one hand he tries to open spaces to recognize and talk about hot topics, such as LGBT issues and pedophilia, but he has been lukewarm with those same issues and others.
In other words, he emphasized, he is not someone who can be defined in a few words, like other popes, and there are different nuances surrounding his pontificate.
To delve deeper into Pope Francis’s pontificate, the 88-year-old Argentine Jesuit priest answered some additional questions.
1. Francisco reaches his twelfth anniversary as pope. What are some of his accomplishments?
Francisco has been in charge of the Vatican for a little over a decade. The first thing to highlight is his status as a non-European and Jesuit pope, which in itself already marks milestones in the history of the papacy.
In that sense, we can mention three positive things such as the ordinance to return to evangelization for all cardinals and bishops, going out into the streets to retain Catholics in the face of a growing and expanding religious offer, both Christian and of other denominations. Pope Francis' call has been to return to pastoral work, although this has brought tensions with a part of the church that considers it necessary to return to traditional worship and not neglect doctrine or principles in exchange for gaining followers by turning the church into a spectacle that seeks to please people.
Another positive aspect is the intervention in the issue of climate change with his Encyclical Laudato Si. Yes, it seeks to raise awareness about the risk to humanity. Another point is related to the promotion of ecumenism with other churches. The Pope has been the first pontiff to visit the patriarchs of the Orthodox Church in their homes and has approached Islam.
2. Due to his health condition, he may not be in a position to continue leading the Catholic Church. Should popes who are no longer able to perform their “duties”, so to speak, resign?
The experience of Pope John Paul II, whose health deteriorated to such an extent that he was unable to fulfill his duties, resulted in the resignation letter that Francis signed when he assumed the papacy. This letter now works against him, as the Church can enforce it even if Francis himself does not want to.
We are in the year of the Jubilee, which is celebrated every 25 years with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica and all other churches. It is an extraordinary celebration in which theological, social, and pastoral issues related to justice, reconciliation, and spiritual renewal are reflected upon. Even Catholics can receive indulgences for their salvation during this time, which was the seed of Luther’s Protestant Reformation.
In that sense, the papal figure occupies a central place, so under Francis’s conditions, his resignation could be effective. Historically, popes were expected to die in office, as the apostles did and even Saint Peter himself. However, it was Benedict who introduced the modern practice of resignation, opening the door to an early retirement option. While it is true that other popes resigned centuries ago, it was not the norm.
3. The Vatican has a unique situation. It is a country, the smallest in the world in terms of size and population, whose system is that of a theocracy organized as an elective monarchy...
The Vatican is the only state with the unique condition of being both a State and a Church simultaneously. There are other theocratic states like Iran, but the exceptional aspect of the Vatican is its secular condition as a political administrative entity and its religious condition as a Church that is not limited to the Vatican. This is why the distinction between the Vatican (State) and the Holy See (Church) exists.
Will the Vatican exist in the 21st century and beyond? Without a doubt, as it is a historical reference. Additionally, it is a point of reference for one of the largest churches in terms of economic presence, followers, and influence in the world.
4. Finally, do you consider that Pope Francis has made mistakes during his pontificate?
Three come to mind. The first one, the issue of pedophilia and child abuse, which, although it has tried to address it, has not been able to contain it, let alone punish it. Several cases occurred in previous papacies, but Pope Francis had the opportunity to deliver justice and could not do it even though he wanted to.
Another pending issue is the recognition of affective orientations and gender identities. At first, it seemed to be open to the topic, but had to backtrack due to ecclesiastical pressures, always showing an ambiguous position on the matter.
Along with those two, now in the political sphere, Francisco has also not condemned dictatorships in Africa or Latin America. He visited Venezuela and Cuba, and has not intervened as a Church in the internal tensions experienced in those countries and in Nicaragua.