{"id":1971,"date":"2023-08-01T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/?p=1971"},"modified":"2023-07-22T09:29:51","modified_gmt":"2023-07-22T07:29:51","slug":"vf218","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/nl\/2023\/08\/vf218\/","title":{"rendered":"218. In a double move, Francis closes the Ratzinger era. For now."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pope Ratzinger (1927-2022)<\/a>\u00a0died only seven months ago, but it is safe to say that on July 1st<\/sup>\u00a0his era definitely ended, at least in the intentions of the reigning pope. In a double move that would make a skilled checkers player envious, Pope Francis put an end to an unwieldy presence in his pontificate. As a \u201cpope emeritus\u201d living in the Vatican (a situation that had never happened before in the millennial history of the Catholic Church), Ratzinger constituted a thorn in Francis\u2019 side, albeit a silent one at least on the outside. Light years removed in terms of theological training and ideas about the church, Francis had assigned him the \u201cwise grandfather\u201d role\u2014a vexatious way of saying that he was an old man rich in memory but lacking in future prospects.
\u00a0
Benedict XVI died at the end of 2022, but on July 1st<\/sup>, his shadow receded further from the Vatican. Francis\u2019 first move was to dispatch Ratzinger\u2019s secretary, Msgr. George G\u00e4nswein, to Freiburg, Germany, without assignments: away from Rome, deprived of ecclesiastical responsibilities. The last rift between him and Francis had been the day after Ratzinger’s funeral with the publication of his book\u00a0Nothing but the Truth. My Life at the Side of Benedict XVI<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Italian edition:\u00a0Nient’altro che la Verit\u00e0. La mia vita al fianco di Benedetto XVI<\/em>, Milano: Piemme, 2023), in which G\u00e4nswein had clearly spoken of the disagreements between the two popes. Francis had not liked either the timing or the content. Now G\u00e4nswein, who is only 66 years old (a \u201cyoung\u201d age for the church in Rome), has received the reciprocation that tastes like revenge served cold: a one-way ticket and a future without appointments. The message is clear: cohabitation with Ratzinger and his \u201cinner circle\u201d is over.
\u00a0
But there was another move in contrast to the Ratzingerian age. Before becoming pope, Ratzinger had been the powerful prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly the Holy Office). Upon becoming pope, in defense of Catholic doctrine, Cardinals M\u00fcller (German) and Ladaria (Spanish) had been appointed in his place. They are different in temperaments, but both \u201cconservative\u201d or \u201cmoderate\u201d like Ratzinger. The former had been his student, the latter had been secretary of the Dicastery in Ratzinger’s time. Two \u201cloyalists.\u201d There was no shortage of friction; M\u00fcller had said that Pope Francis needed \u201ctheological framing\u201d and, in the face of this \u201coffense,\u201d was promptly and abruptly dismissed by the pope. Ladaria, a Jesuit like Bergoglio, has held a more defiladed and guarded position, but certainly not in line with the evolution of Francis\u2019 papacy.
\u00a0
Now, coincidentally, on the very same day of Ratzinger\u2019s former secretary\u2019s departure, Ladaria, Ratzinger\u2019s appointee to the Dicastery, was also dismissed on grounds of seniority. In his place, Francis appointed Argentine V\u00edctor Manuel Fern\u00e1ndez. Not well known in international theological circles, Fern\u00e1ndez is, however, a loyal follower of Pope Francis. He is said to have been the ghostwriter of\u00a0Evangelii Gaudium<\/em><\/a>, the pontificate\u2019s programmatic manifesto calling for a \u201cmissionary conversion\u201d of his church;[1]<\/a>\u00a0Amoris Laetitia<\/em>, the exhortation that contains openings toward the Eucharistic inclusion of people in \u201cirregular\u201d states of life; and\u00a0Laudato S\u00ec’<\/em><\/a>, the encyclical on environmental issues that is so popular in progressive circles. Virtually all the cornerstones of Francis\u2019 magisterium were written in consultation with Fern\u00e1ndez. In the aftermath of Evangelii Gaudium, he had written a book presenting the new papal course to the world:\u00a0The Project of Francis. Where he wants to take the Church<\/em>\u00a0(Italian edition:\u00a0Il progetto di Francesco. Dove vuole portare la Chiesa<\/em><\/a>, Bologna: EMI, 2014). Now, this interpreter of Francis\u2019 thinking, far removed from Ratzinger\u2019s, became prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the highest body for the promotion of Catholic doctrine. Francis has a very faithful and \u201cyoung\u201d theologian (62 years old) in a position that can carry on his \u201cproject\u201d even when he is gone. In Francis\u2019 view, this really is a big deal. The next two years will see two Synods of Bishops (gathering all Roman Catholic bishops from around the world) on the controversial topic of \u201csynodality<\/a>\u201d, i.e., a new way of proceeding in the church, with Rome becoming more inclusive and absorbing (catholic) and less marked by its traditional identity (Roman). Francis has now a trusted supporter and enthusiastic promoter of his view of \u201csynodality.\u201d
\u00a0
In two moves, Francis has shrewdly weakened the \u201cRoman-ness\u201d of the church as interpreted by Pope Benedict XVI and scored a point in favor of the \u201ccatholicity\u201d of the current fluid church, the one where we are\u00a0“all brothers.”<\/a>\u00a0While physically frail, Francis has never been stronger than he is now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> Here is a recent summary of Evangelii Gaudium<\/em> from the Pope himself: \u201cHere we find the \u2018heart\u2019 of the evangelical mission of the Church: to reach all through the gift of God\u2019s infinite love, to seek all, to welcome all, excluding no one, to offer our lives for all. All! That is the key word.\u201d Audience to the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies<\/a> (June 3rd<\/sup>, 2023).<\/p>\n

\"Share<\/a>