And things are getting very salty indeed.
In 2012, international headlines suggested that the Vatican papers would shake the foundations of the Vatican much as the Pentagon papers did those of the Pentagon. But anyone who knew anything about papal history, or had merely seen season 1 of The Borgias, knew or should have known better.
As it turned out, revelations in the Vatican papers paled in comparison to the violence, nepotism, and hedonism that characterized not just the papacy of Pope Alexander VI (of the aforementioned Borgias) but that of Pope Stephen VI (of the Cadaver Synod), Pope Leo X (of the Machiavellian Medicis), and many others throughout the history of the Roman Catholic Church.
Apropos of which, in The Divine Comedy, Dante had Pope Nicholas III already burning in Hell; and he quite rightly reserved a place there for Pope Boniface VIII and Pope Clement V. Of course, some of the more notorious popes (like the aforementioned Borgia) committed their papal sins … after the Inferno. But Dante committed a glaring sin of omission by failing to also damn to Hell Benedict XVI’s namesake, the thrice-reigning Pope Benedict IX (Theophylactus).
But I digress …
The point is that his predecessors set such a low bar for papal conduct that one could not conceive of any transgression that would compel Benedict XVI to resign. In fact, here is how I expressed the informed consternation that attended his resignation in “The Abdication of Pope Benedict XVI,” February 12, 2013:
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I do not think this announcement was prompted by any of the public (pedophile and other) scandals that have plagued the church in recent years, or by any personal failing that has fatally compromised the pope’s moral authority. For, if harboring a pedophile priest was not sufficient to disqualify him from being elected pope in the first place, I can’t imagine any scandal or failing that would compel him to abdicate. …
Instead, I think this is nothing more than the sensible, responsible, and admirable decision of a man who never bought into the fiction of papal infallibility as much as his predecessors did.
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In other words, the mental and physical stress of the papacy just became too much for Benedict. In fact, I thought six months after abdicating he would be dead. But Benedict is turning out to be every bit as resilient as US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (a.k.a. the Notorious RBG).
Even so, my cynical take on papal infallibility is proving far more prescient than I realized. Because only disregard for it explains Benedict reportedly chafing as he’s forced to sit quietly in prayer while Francis commits what he considers (in his Papa Emeritus opinion) all kinds of religious and liturgical transgressions.
Francis is arguably the most humble pope in history. But his humility has its limits. Because he clearly draws a red line when it comes to invasions of his space. In fact, the world got a glimpse last New Year’s Eve of the wrath any such invasion provokes. That’s when cameras caught him as he whacked an overeager supplicant on a receiving line in St. Peter’s Square after she held the hem of his garment for too long.
This is why the church seems headed for the kind of schism not seen since, well, The Great Papal Schism of 1378, when – as Christianity Today describes it – two popes, and later three popes, vied for supremacy. Here is how Lynda Telford, author of Women in the Vatican: Female Power in a Male World, explains the schism afoot:
Francis has wanted to continue the late Pope John Paul II’s work in ensuring acts such as contraception can be used within the church without prejudice. … Benedict – who stood down as pope in a historic move in 2013 – is leading a charge of angry traditionalists within the Vatican who do not want to see such modern ideals as part of a new Catholicism mandate. …
[W]hen asked whether Francis would be able to bring about those liberal alterations to secure his legacy as head of the Vatican, Ms Telford told Express.co.uk she felt that as long as Benedict was alive and in the church, no such moves would ever be made.
(World ABC News, March 30, 2020)
This is not the forum to delve any further into this schism. But I feel obliged to confess that I know far more about the East-West schism of 1054 than the Great Papal schism of 1378.
In any event, the Elizabeth-Mary schism of 1547 might serve as a better analogy. Not least because it has been dramatized in many more relatable forms. Never mind the liberty popular movies like Mary Queen of Scots take with historical facts.
But, given the Catholic Church’s sordid history, it is arguable that words like “paparazzi” and “propaganda” are the demon spawn of the papacy; you know, like that other “p” word that has the church living in purgatory these days.
Unfortunately, speaking of taking liberty with the facts, both sides in this Benedict-Francis schism are spinning and trolling so effectively, it’s impossible to tell fact from fiction. Whatever the case, Benedict seems hell-bent on giving Francis just cause to commit him to a lifetime of monastic silence, in effect under house arrest – just as Elizabeth effectively did with Mary.
Alas, such a move seems necessary for two reasons:
- To prevent Benedict from continually pontificating on seminal issues like “priestly celibacy”(no pun intended). But Benedict reportedly feels compelled to do so to prevent Francis from committing the “fashionable error” of ordaining married men to make up for shortages of parish priests. Moreover, one could hardly blame Benedict if he continues to pontificate. After all, despite this glaring invasion of his space, Francis deferred on this proposal, much to the dismay of liberals and women.
- To prevent Benedict from continually presenting clear signs of the dementia, which might have triggered his abdication. For example, in the months before that fateful event, Benedict proclaimed he had “dissolved” the gay cabal that was perverting the church’s holy mission. Except that this makes even less sense than President Trump insisting in February that he had defeated Covid-19.
This is why it behooves Francis to act with deliberate speed to silence Benedict – for both their sakes. Granted, Francis need not fear Benedict plotting with traditionalists to assassinate him the way Mary did with Catholics to assassinate Elizabeth. The latter left this virgin queen no choice but to have Mary’s head after 19 years of splendid confinement. But the former features Benedict at 93. So the only plot he can mastermind these days is one to dig his grave.
Incidentally, I have written many commentaries on the so-called gay cabal in the Catholic Church, including “Eighty Percent of Catholic Priests Are Gay, No Surprise Then That a ‘Gay Cabal’ Rules the Vatican,” February 20, 2019. Suffice it to know that pedophile priests enjoyed sanctuary in the church for centuries because fellow priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes dared not report them for fear of having their gay (or smorgasbord of hedonistic) activities outed.
I submit this remains the case. And Francis knows it as surely as Benedict does.
Related commentaries:
abdication of Benedict…
Ruth Ginsburg…
gay cabal…