Shortly
after Benedict announced his resignation and before the Conclave Cardinal Jorge
Mario Bergoglio said in an interview: ‘They speak of a conservative Pope but
what Benedict XVI has done really represents a revolutionary gesture, a change
to six hundred years of history.’ Very
few people regarded Cardinal Bergoglio as a likely successor. He was the runner-up to Pope Benedict in the
Conclave of 2005 but now he was over seventy-six years old and had physical
limitations – including damage to one of his lungs – which though not serious
might weigh against his election.
Another Argentinean, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri was considered much more
likely. Had he been elected Bishop of
Rome in 2005 we might not have a Pope Francis.
An eighty-four year old Cardinal, Francesco Marchisano, recently said
that when asked what name he would have taken if he had been chosen then
Cardinal Bergoglio had told him: ‘John – I would have called myself John, like
the good Pope. I would have been
completely inspired by him.’ Eight years
later he was even more inspirational in naming himself after – and modelling
himself on – Francis of Assisi.
Among
those newly created as Cardinals on February 22nd was the
ninety-eight year old Archbishop Loris Capovilla. He was unable to go to Rome for the event but
a senior Cardinal took the special biretta to where he lives at Sotto il Monte
– the birthplace of John XXIII near the City of Bergamo. This newly created Cardinal served as
Secretary to John XXIII even when Papa Roncalli was patriarch of Venice. Now, fifty-one years after Pope John’s death,
Pope Francis has included him in the first batch of Cardinals he has created
because he was ‘such a memorable witness of Vatican II’. When Pope Paul VI succeeded Pope John the
Vatican Council was still in its early stages and Paul VI named the then Father
Loris Capovilla as a ‘peritus’ or special advisor at the Council. In paying his respects to this frail, elderly
bishop Pope Francis is also showing his high regard for Blessed John XXIII who
is about to be canonised – together with Blessed Pope John Paul II on the
Sunday after Easter Day. Benedict XVI
was present at the consistory where the new Cardinals were created – the first
time the eighty-six year old former Pope has appeared at a large public event
since Francis succeeded him a year ago.
It is thought very likely that he will also be present at the
Canonisation ceremony on 27th April.
It would be quite something to have two Popes canonised in a ceremony
attended by the former Pope and presided over by the present Pope. We hope to be able to show the ceremony in
the Barn on that day – if technology allows.
Later
this year Pope Paul VI – who served from 1963 to 1978 is expected to be
declared ‘Blessed’. He guided the Church
through the final three stages of the Second Vatican Council and through the
initial stages of the implementation of the Council. In December 2012 Benedict declared him ‘Venerable’
and recently a miracle has been attributed to his intercession.
Meanwhile
Pope Francis has been making significant changes to the workings of the
Vatican. He has established a new
Secretariat for the Economy and has appointed the Australian Cardinal George
Pell as Prefect. The seventy-two year
old Archbishop of Sydney is quite a formidable character. He was very prominent in implementing the
recent English translation of the Roman Missal and showed how forcefully he
stood up for what he wanted. Perhaps
these are the very qualities needed in his new post. Later this month he will resign from the
Archdiocese of Sydney and will be based in Rome. The task of the new Secretariat is to ensure
that financial and temporal matters in the Vatican are managed wisely and
properly. Before Pope Francis was
elected Cardinal Pell was prominent among those calling for reforms in the
inner workings of the Vatican. We wish
him well with his new tasks.
The
Queen is to meet Pope Francis on 3rd April in an informal visit to
the Vatican. Queen Elizabeth will be
accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh when they will have an audience with Pope
Francis at his residence at the House of St Martha. They are making a one-day visit to Rome at
the invitation of the President of Italy with whom they will have a private
lunch after which they will visit Pope Francis.
It would be unusual for the Queen to visit Rome without seeing the
Pope. Her last trip to Rome was in 2000
when she met John Paul II. The Queen’s
reign has overlapped with seven Popes.
As Princess Elizabeth she met Pius XII in 1951. Pope Francis will be the fourth Pope she has
met as monarch. In 1961 she was received
by John XXIII and in 1980 she became the first British Monarch to make a State
Visit to the Vatican – when she met John Paul II. During his British trip in 1982 history was
made again when she welcomed John Paul II at Buckingham Palace. In 2010 she hosted Benedict XVI at the Palace
of Holyroodhouse on the first ever Papal State Visit to Great Britain.
