Grieving the Decline of the Papacy

My sadness gets deeper and calmer as this papacy gets worse. Ten years ago I could not have imagined such a profound decline of trust in the pope, cardinals and bishops. For the first six decades of my life, the pope was the source of light, strength and encouragement for practicing Catholics: the popes ranged from very good (Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI) to excellent (Benedict XIII) to outstanding (John Paul II). We were overdue for a weak pope; and we got one.

Five developments trouble me.

First, the destruction of the John Paul Institute for the Study of the Family in Rome is clear evidence of the rejection of the legacy of that great pope. Early in this pontificate, I tried hard to practice a "hermeneutic of continuity" by understanding Francis in communion with John Paul and Benedict. That effort failed. There is a clear rupture here. To be clear, this pope has not renounced Humanae Vitae and all that flows from it. But his lieutenants have. And he has sidelined John Paul's inspiring, d catechesis of the human body in favor of political goals like immigration and global warming. His neglect of the theology of the body may reflect a personal asexuality: he seems to be unfamiliar with the raging passions of sexual and romantic desire, the consuming fire of concupiscence. He is of little help to those of us that do deal with such. This is like the confessor who counsels the penitent porn addict: "Don't worry about that! You are just human after all...and everyone does it anyway." SO oblivious of the darkness, shame, guilt and bondage intrinsic to lust and covetousness! The radiant gospel of chastity, fidelity and fecundity...proclaimed and embodied by John Paul...is now in exile.

Secondly, the insertion of his personal view of the death penalty into the Catechism is a grave misuse of authority, a failure in collegiality (no consultation with the bishops), a desecration of that holy document, and an arrogant rejection of a clear Catholic tradition. It is reflective of his compulsion to pursue his own political, ideological goals and present them as Church teaching.

Thirdly, more than a year after the catastrophic summer of McCarrick and Vigano he has refused to reveal what really happened. It is hardly possible to view this as anything else but a continued cover-up of the scandals of the (now credible) "lavender mafia." This cynicism is confirmed by ongoing advocacy in the Vatican of the gay agenda and new scandals.

Fourth, his agreement with Communist China is a serious mistake and a sell-out of the faithful, persecuted Catholic underground. His naive accomodation to this vile regime is similar to his casual tolerance of the tyranny of cultural liberalism in the West. Francis is a culture warrior: he is relentless about immigration and global warming and allergic to USA capitalism. These are valid concerns but neither the expertise nor the purpose of the papacy. He lacks clarity, intensity and vigilance about the real threats to the faith of the little ones.

Lastly, he is succeeding in re-creating the college of cardinals in his own image. Liberal Jesuit Thomas Reese said that if John Paul or Benedict had been so ideological in their choice of cardinals and bishops that he would have been furious. And so, a cynicism about the emergent hierarchy is simply realistic.

These are dark days for the Catholic Church. It feels like we fell into a time machine and woke up in a corrupt Renaissance pontificate; or into the ancient Church with Athanasius and Anthony in the desert and the entire hierarchy gone Arian. Nevertheless, I am boundlessly hopeful, encouraged and confident about the Church...Why so? That is topic of my next blog.