On March 13th, Pope Francis will celebrate the 4th anniversary of his election as the Bishop of Rome and the Vicar of Christ for the Universal Church.
As that anniversary fast approaches, the Holy Father is facing yet another year of his Pontificate being challenged by a Vatican bureaucracy sluggish and resistant to the numerous reforms he has proposed within the offices and corridors of the Holy See.
A small but vocal group of critics have signaled that they are prepared to submit a “formal act of correction” to Francis for allowing local Conferences of Bishops to develop and enact policies that would permit remarried and sexually active divorced Catholics to Holy Communion.
What practical effect this challenge to Papal authority will ultimately have is anyone’s guess.
I suppose that, for the vast majority of Catholics, conservative allies will only succeed in bringing more criticism upon the Church, confirming accusations that the institution is self-absorbed and out-of-touch with those it claims to serve.
Sadly, those who remain entrenched in their lockstep loyalty to a bygone era seem incapable of realizing and admitting that they comprise a small minority of the Catholic population.
And, no matter how much they wish to cast themselves as self-appointed defenders of the faith, they are and will remain ineffectual vestiges of a so-called “golden age of theology and liturgy" which never really existed or left any indelible imprint upon the Church in the modern world.
Rather, the vast majority of the Catholic faithful appear enthusiastic and supportive of Pope Francis’ openness to the modern world and see his love and concern for the marginalized as the embodiment of the Gospel virtues of charity and mercy.
The Catholic community overall embraces the sincerity of this Pope as he opens his arms to embrace those the Church seemed to have forgotten or harshly judged for centuries.
And so, it very well may be that, whatever challenges Curial bureaucrats or entrenched conservative Cardinals and theologians mount against Francis, they will have little effect either upon Francis’ pursuit of his Vatican II inspired reforms or the enthusiasm with which they are received by overwhelming numbers of the Catholic faithful who see this Pope as a genuine and sincere Pastor of souls.
By now, we already know much of what’s on Pope Francis’s plate in 2017, including two confirmed trips - Fatima in May, and India and Bangladesh probably later in the year - and the likelihood of a couple more, one to Africa (perhaps Congo and South Sudan) and one to Latin America (beginning with Colombia.)
The Pontiff will also make quick stops in Milan and Genoa inside Italy, meet Bishops from around the world in Rome making ad limina visits, receive dignitaries and heads of state, preside over the usual liturgies for Holy Week, continue meeting with his C9 Council of Cardinal advisers to wrap up an overhaul of the Roman Curia, and so on.
The Pope is 80 years of age. Time becomes increasingly limited for Francis to continue doing something arguably more important than almost anything else in terms of framing his legacy and shaping culture in the Church, which is naming and appointing Bishops
In keeping with Church policy, every one of the world’s more than 5,000 Catholic bishops is expected to submit a letter of resignation when he turns 75. It’s up to the Pope whether to accept it, but 75 is generally the threshold at which thoughts of a transition begin to beckon.
In major Vatican positions, officials who are already past 75, or who will turn 75 in 2017, include:
Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
Cardinal Angelo Amato, Congregation for the Causes of Saints
Cardinal Beniamino Stella, Congregation for Clergy
Cardinal George Pell, Secretariat for the Economy
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, Council for Culture
Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Synod of Bishops
Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Pontifical Academy of Sciences/Social Sciences.
Expert Vatican watchers agree that most will stay on in their positions. The Pope has already openly confirmed Cardinal Pell beyond his 75th birthday, and Cardinals Coccopalmiero, Stella, Ravasi, Baldisseri and Sánchez Sorondo are all seen as secure in their positions as well.
The one to watch may be Cardinal Amato, who is rumored to be considering retirement as he turns 79 in June.
If Francis does replace him, that would leave only the Congregation for Bishops under Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, and the Economy Secretariat under Cardinal Pell as major Vatican offices not led by Prefects either appointed by Francis or who agree with the Pope on most major issues.
In terms of Prelates in dioceses around the world, here is a list of those already over 75 or who will cross that milestone in 2017:
Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo, Kinshasa
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Washington, D.C.
Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, Durban
Cardinal Angelo Scola, Milan
Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, Mexico City
Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Paris
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, Tegucigalpa
Cardinal John Ton Hon, Hong Kong
Archbishop Peter Okada, Tokyo
Once again, there’s no law that says the Pope must replace any of them, and in fact most will probably continue on for a while, prominent among them Cardinal Wuerl in Washington.
It promises to be an exciting year for the Universal Church and an exhausting one for the Holy Father.
Let us pray for Pope Francis everyday. May the Lord bless him, keep him in good health and continue to inspire him to be the Good Shepherd of the Church in the kindness and compassion of his actions, words and spirit.
Viva il Papa.....Long Live the Pope!
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