Pope Francis’s successes – the next day in the Vatican
Yesterday’s visit and prayer of the cardinals to the tomb of Pope Francis, to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, was practically the last act before the big and more meaningful appointment: his gathering Conclaviumwhich is called upon to choose his successor, while also giving the mark of the course of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church of 1.35 billion believers in the coming years.
The date for the start of the process is expected to be decided and announced today. It is recalled that the regulation provides for that 15 days of the publication of death, as well as 9 days of mourning and prayer after the funeral. Thus, based on the amendments made by Pope Benedict Estet, with the aim of limiting the time of uncertainty and « rule », it is likely that the start will be between May 5 and 9 – with many believing that the first vote will take place either on the 5th of the month.
« All chances are open, » Archbishop of Munich, Reinhard Marx, who belongs to the so -called Conclavian progressives, told Repubblica, confirming the assessment that any provision for a favorite is currently in danger. To add that what the cardinals will have to deal with « is not a matter of nations, languages or cultures, but of the presence of spirit in today’s world. Maybe not exactly as with Pope Francis, but in his own direction. «
It is recalled that in his 12 years of presence in the Vatican’s « throne » (although he preferred a simple chair), Franciscus has set 80% of the 135 cardinals – from 71 different countries – who have the right to vote as they are under 80 years of age. In fact, for the first time, for the first time, the continents outside Europe are the majority of the electorate.
How does the Vatican read the world?
However, it should be considered an option that will ensure the « continuation » of the line it has drawn. Sure, in any case, is that the Vatican leadership – despite what one can accuse her of her actions and practices on many issues – has proven that she knows how to « read » the needs of the times and adapt to them, as the story of the last half can prove. Anything else was, for example, the election of Polish origin Pope John Pavlos II in 1978, as he played a decisive role to give the Soviet Union and the « Eastern Bloc ». Correspondingly, his succession by German Benedict, also known as the « Rottweiler of God » for his extreme conservative views, came to express the need of the Roman Catholic Church to « fortify » against a world that changed rapidly after the end.
As for Francis, his election, in 2013, came in a period of mass poverty of hundreds of millions of people around the world, in the background of the 2008-’09 financial crisis, which finally overthrew the illusions about the « end of history » and « society of abundance ». Giving birth to the need to gain a « hug » and a great, comrade « embrace », something that this particular Pontiff successfully did.
Today, however, we are facing a whole new era – even if many of the characteristics of the previous one have not disappeared. The choice of cardinals will show how they « read » it.
