Antonino Galofaro with AFP
With the death of Benedict XVI, Pope Francis begins a new phase of his pontificate, without the shadow of his predecessor. A period that could see speculation about his renunciation and opposition to his reforms redouble in intensity.
The disappearance of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI opens a delicate sequence for Pope Francis, because the sovereign pontiff does not only have followers in the Vatican. And the criticisms of certain cardinals could now be heard. For the first time since his election in 2013, Jorge Bergoglio is in charge of the Catholic Church and its 1.3 billion followers without another man in white at his side. Because until now, the presence in the Vatican of the German theologian – who had surprised the whole world by renouncing his ministry – had caused trouble, fueling the saga of the “two popes” with divergent visions.
An opening that goes badly with the conservatives
Benedict XVI was a kind of dam, a bulwark that repelled the most virulent opponents of Francis. His detractors still hoped that the German pope would hold back his successor on his reforms. Francis’ opening on the communion of remarried divorcees is an example of this. In 2016, the American cardinal Raymond Leo Burke opposed it. But, like other conservatives, he waited for Benedict XVI to curb the sovereign pontiff, without success.
The pope emeritus, however, never intervened in the pontificate of his successor. Today, his opponents have free rein. The Argentine pontiff now risks being attacked frontally, especially by the American conservative right led by Cardinal Burke. This charge is likely to be so violent that the Italian press is already talking about a possible schism.