Massimo Faggioli

PROFESSOR MASSIMO FAGGIOLI ASKS: "CAN POPE FRANCIS MANAGE HIS LOCAL OPPOSITION?"

My Dear Sisters and Brothers:

In a recent on-line essay, Massimo Faggioli, a native of Italy who teaches theology at St. Thomas University in Minnesota, raised this question because of what he sees as a "carefully coded fight for the ground between the old guard and the new." He observes that the Pope has taken up "a new language and style" that some bishops, especially the Italian bishops in his own backyard, have not universally welcomed. For example, Francis for the second year in a row has washed the feet of women on Holy Thursday, an action officially prohibited by the Vatican.

On a deeper and more contested level, many of the old guard Italian bishops, particularly the most prominent ones appointed by John Paul II and Benedict XVI from Venice, Milan, Turin, Genoa, Florence, Naples and Palermo have had little to say about Francis' agenda. Cardinal Caffarra of Bologna is the exception. He willingly commented in public about his opposition to Cardinal Walter Kasper, a close friend and advisor to the Pope, and Kasper's openness to allow some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the Eucharist. The rest of the Italian bishops have been absent from the public debate about the family and marriage, which is the theme of this October's Synod of Bishops.

Unlike their episcopal brothers in Italy, the German bishops have long since engaged the question about sacramental practices for remarried Catholics. As a conference, they have also taken very seriously Francis' call for a "poor Church that is for the poor."

In order to put some "new blood" into the Italian episcopate Francis recently appointed three auxiliary bishops who had very close ties to the late Cardinal Carlo Martini, SJ, Archbishop of Milan from 1980 to 2002 and the most influential Italian bishop in the post-Vatican II era. The three new bishops had been "exiled" by Martini's successor to Milan.

Resistance to Francis and his governance is coming not only from some Italian bishops but also very much from a number of influential Italian newspapers all with close ties to the Berlusconi media empire. Milan-based Corriere della Sera, the newspaper of Italy's capitalist establishment, has warned its readers regarding Francis' policies on immigration and economic justice.

Francis' emphasis on a social agenda such as family, work and simplicity of life style has given pause to the Italian bishops. Faggioli claims that few of them openly support him. The bureaucratic culture of the Catholic Church in Italy is resistant to change, making the episcopate wary of Francis.

According to Bishop Victor Fernandez of Argentina, one of the Pope's key advisers, Francis definitely wants to "apply Vatican II in its entirety, without backtracking, with the intention of leading the Church out of itself, in order to get to everyone." The Pope's approach is anti-ideological with an aspiration to develop a more missionary style that reaches out to everyone by focusing on the essentials which are more attractive because they speak to the deepest needs of the human heart. Thus, the Pope's reform is aimed not just at the Vatican Curia but the whole people of God (bishops, priests and laity).

Francis wants a participative Church, a Church that is more open to the Synod structure in handling Church matters and where all Catholics feel represented and heard.

Faggioli writes that "If the Pope really does want to allow all Catholics a place at the table, then he'll have to listen to a lot of people who aren't especially pleased with his leadership so far."  In that group are some of the following: the orphans of Joseph Ratzinger; members of the new Catholic movements such as the neo-catechumenate and the Legionaries of Christ; the Restorationists who look back to 19th-century European Catholicism; and the neo-Medievalists who oppose Vatican II on liturgical matters.  On the other hand, Francis is also experiencing opposition from those who think he has not gone far enough in his reform of the Church. Among that group are the former exiled theologians under John Paul II and Benedict XVI who continue to push for radical revolution within the Church because they see the same old patriarchal, repressive Church. In fact, it appears that Francis has opponents on all sides.

In summing up his reflections, Faggioli thinks that the transition from Benedict to Francis is still unfolding. He compares the coming Synods of 2014 and 2015 to the situation comparable to Pope John XXIII when he faced stiff opposition to his ideas and plans for convening Vatican II and setting new directions for the Church. He believes that Francis is confronting the same "loneliness" that John XXIII experienced. "Like John XXIII, he is not young enough to carry out his own reforms. It will be up to the bishops and the faithful to reconstruct Catholicism's credibility."

Faggioli concludes by reminding us that given all that took place before Francis became Pope, this time of transition for him "could hardly be more complicated."

Gratefully in the Lord,