The dust has yet to settle on news and mourning of Pope Francis’ death and funeral when all eyes are set on the upcoming papal conclave for the election of a new pope. Already, both Catholic and secular media outlets are speculating on which cardinal could possibly be Pope Francis’ successor.
For example, secular American media outlet New York Post said:
“The next pontiff could come from Africa, Italy, or Sri Lanka — possibly even America — but it’s likely that whoever is elected to follow Pope Francis, who died Monday at age 88, will nudge the Catholic Church back to the ideological center, experts said. During Francis’ 12-year reign leading the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, the late pope’s support for LGBTQ Catholics and suppression of the traditional Latin Mass were among moves that rankled conservatives in the church.”
Citing Serenhedd James, editor of Britain’s Catholic Herald magazine, New York Post added:
“Now, ‘whoever is elected will be of a centrally conservative disposition; after 12 years of Pope Francis ‘stirring things up’.”
However, in an op-ed for Catholic news outlet LifeSiteNews, writer S.D. Write seemed less optimistic about the prospect of a future conservative pope:
“Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, the new president of the French Bishops’ Conference, is rumored to be the favorite to succeed Francis in the next conclave. Vatican insiders have told LifeSiteNews that Aveline ‘will be the next pope,’ and Edward Pentin and Diane Montagna’s Cardinalium Collegii Recensio states that he is ‘allegedly Pope Francis’ ‘favorite’ cardinal to succeed him.’”
Notably, as Wright pointed out, Cardinal Aveline has been notorious among conservative Catholics for his heterodox views on the Catholic Faith.
Despite all the speculation, the reality is that no one knows for sure who will get elected as the next Vicar of Christ at the moment, as Michael Matt of The Remnant stated.
Likewise, The College of Cardinals Report declared in an article:
“Although well versed in theology and often defined as an intellectual, Cardinal Aveline defends a theory of mission and interreligious dialogue rooted in concrete collaborative practices and everyday acts of charity. In an interview with the Italian press in 2021, he explained the meaning of this approach: ‘The best way to foster acceptance and dialogue between religions is to act together, because actions are much more effective than words. That’s why, for example, priests and imams hand out meals to the needy side by side on the steps of our station. These are signs that warm the heart and help to deepen the reasons for our beliefs.”
The same article elaborated:
“Critics, however, contend that from his past writings and in his approach to interfaith dialogue, Aveline relativises Christianity, has a naturalistic view of religion, and denies the dogma of extra ecclesiam nulla salus, rejecting it as an infallible patristic formulation. By quietly sidelining the supernatural faith, they also say it is unsurprising that Aveline’s ideas veer away from orthodoxy, and that he is more focused on the natural body of humanity than the Mystical Body of Christ. Aveline’s view that other religions have a role in salvation means that Christ’s unique mediation includes false religions, a teaching that is irreconcilable with the truths of the Catholic faith.”
Uh-oh.
Nonetheless, despite all the speculation, the reality is that no one knows for sure who will get elected as the next Vicar of Christ at the moment, as Michael Matt of The Remnant stated.
In light of the late Pope Francis’ mixed legacy and the possibility that a cardinal with a naturalistic approach to our holy Catholic Faith gets elected (God forbid), conservative German cardinal Gerhard Müller proclaimed that Catholics have to pray for the Church to have a new pope who will imitate Christ “like a good shepherd”, as LifeSiteNews reported.
Citing remarks by Cardinal Müller, LifeSiteNews went on:
“At this hour, we commend to God’s mercy Pope Francis, who has proclaimed it unceasingly to Christians and to all people of good will. And we ask the Lord and the head of the Church to send us a new successor of Peter who will gather the flock of God like a good shepherd, so that all, united with him, may say to Jesus: You are Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Bishop Athanasius Schneider also published a new prayer for God to grant “an era of holy popes” to the Catholic Church.
In like manner, Don Davide Pagliarani, the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), called on the SSPX community worldwide to beseech the Holy Ghost through a novena for the upcoming papal election (from April 28 to May 6).
Simply put, traditional Catholics worldwide, myself included, are hoping and praying—with bated breath—for a truly Catholic pope who would unapologetically and courageously proclaim the truth of Our Lord Jesus Christ and Catholic teachings.
During an animated discussion about the truth of Catholic teachings one day around the year 2018, a former schoolmate of mine, a staunch pro-life and pro-family Anglican, told me straight up that he was appalled at the publication of Amoris Laetitia during the Francis pontificate.
Like many Catholics around the world, I found myself torn in between defending Roman Catholicism and the papacy as a divine institution to admitting the reality that under Pope Francis’ watch, the Vatican softened its firm stance regarding traditional Catholic teaching about family and marriage.
(Note that I do not wish to judge Pope Francis’ intentions, since only God can do so. Hence, I won’t claim that Pope Francis was the originator of attempts to subvert traditional Catholic teaching on homosexuality, marriage, and family. One cannot dismiss with certainty the possibility that Pope Francis was forced (under diabolical threats from within the Vatican) to declare heretical statements like how “every religion is a way to arrive at God” and that the late pontiff lacked the fortitude to resist those threats. Only God has the full knowledge of the machinations of the hidden enemies of Our Lord Jesus Christ nestled within the Vatican walls.)
Without judging Pope Francis’ own intentions, it would be more accurate to state that numerous controversies did occur during Pope Francis’ reign, and some of the pontiff’s own public statements indeed left faithful Catholics scratching their heads. Little wonder that faithful Catholics worldwide, including Bishop Schneider, Bishop Joseph Strickland, and Cardinal Müller, have called for prayers for a new pope to express Catholic teachings with renewed doctrinal clarity.
God willing, the next pope can be one who recognizes the truth, beauty, and goodness of the Catholic Faith.
As Fr. John Zuhlsdorf stated on his website,
“Now that Francis has gone to God, our role is to pray not only that God will be merciful to him, but also for the election of a new Pope who will be … better than we deserve!
Let us pray that he will be truly holy and faithful, zealous to fulfil God’s will in sacrificial love in keeping with Office and sacred Tradition entrusted to him.
Let us pray for a Pope who will bring healing and justice to those who are strongly attached to the Church’s ancient liturgical and doctrinal Tradition.
Let us pray for a Pope who will be a consistent point of reference for the unity of all the Churches aligned with Rome.
Let us pray for a Pope who can facilitate unity with separated Churches.
Let us pray for a Pope who will bring crystal clarity to the burning questions of our day regarding faithful and morals.
Let us pray for a Pope who will shine forth in his words and deeds, as well as in his silences and patience, Christ, whose Vicar he must be.”
God willing, the next pope can be one who recognizes the truth, beauty, and goodness of the Catholic Faith. As writer Richard Rodgers put it:
“In a world that is increasingly adrift in moral relativism and secularism, the Church ought to stand as an unwavering moral compass, a beacon of timeless truth. Our anchor in these turbulent seas is found in the traditional practices and teachings of the Church.”
Rodgers’ title, “Catholicism is at its Best When it’s… Catholic”, states it all.
One of my favorite English writers, G.K. Chesterton, erstwhile declared:
“We do not really want a religion that is right where we are right. What we want is a religion that is right where we are wrong. We do not want, as the newspapers say, a church that will move with the world. We want a church that will move the world.”
In a similar fashion, what the Catholic Church needs at this pivotal juncture is a holy Pope who will not move with the world, but will move the world towards Our Lord Jesus Christ, through the Blessed Virgin Mary, just as how a good shepherd will do.
And hopefully, such a good shepherd will move my former Anglican schoolmate to cross the Tiber and join the Roman Catholic Church- founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.
St. Joseph, Protector of Holy Church, pray for us.
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