After Francis (3)

For several months, Pope Francis has been exhibiting serious difficulties getting around. On April 30, 2022, when receiving pilgrims from Slovakia, he declared that his leg was “not good,” even adding: “it does not work.” He said his doctor told him not to walk.

This worrying state of health made Roman observers increasingly wonder about the future pope. Our first part reported the words of a well-informed prelate, Msgr. Nicola Bux, and the second part that of two Vaticanists describing the attitude of the pope anticipating his successor.

On Settimo Cielo of February 10, Sandro Magister also cited the name of a Jesuit prelate according to the heart of the Jesuit Pope, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg. On July 8, 2021, Francis appointed him, “relator general of the pluriennial synod that – in the judgment of the reigning pope but also of his potential successor – is supposed to remodel the Church under the banner of none other than ‘synodality.’”

“For Hollerich, this synod must be more ‘open’ than ever. He will have to be able to listen and ‘fill himself’ with the proposals that issue from the whole people of God. Even on the hottest topics.”

The Roman Vaticanist published a series of statements by Cardinal Hollerich on these “hot topics,” made during interviews granted to La Croix on January 20 and to Katolische Nachrichten-Agentur on January 27. Judge for yourself:

On married priests: “Now I hope there may be ‘viri probati.’ It is a deep desire. …I think we must go in this direction, otherwise soon we will not have any more priests.”

On women priests: “It seems to me that the first problem is not whether women should become priests or not, but first of all whether women have a true stake in the priesthood that belongs to all the baptized and confirmed people of God and whether in this way they could exercise the authority associated with it. Would this also mean a homily at Mass? I would say yes.”

On sexuality: “We must change our way of considering sexuality. Until today we have had a rather repressed view of it.”

On homosexuality: “The Church’s positions on homosexual relationships as sinful are wrong. I believe that the sociological and scientific foundation of this doctrine is no longer correct. It is time for a fundamental revision of Church teaching, and the way in which Pope Francis has spoken of homosexuality could lead to a change in doctrine.”

“Meanwhile, in our archdiocese, in Luxembourg, no one is fired for being homosexual, or divorced and remarried. I can’t toss them out, they would become unemployed, and how can such a thing be Christian? As for homosexual priests, there are many of these, and it would be good if they could talk about this with their bishop without his condemning them.”

On intercommunion: “In Tokyo [Cardinal Hollerich was a missionary in Japan for 27 years. Ed.], I gave communion to each of those who came to Mass. I have never denied communion to anyone. I took it for granted a Protestant, if he comes to communion, knows what Catholics meant by communion, at least as much as other Catholics who attend Mass do.”

On abortion: “I am absolutely against abortion. And, as a Christian, I cannot have a different position. But I also understand that there is a concern for the dignity of women, and that what we upheld in the past in order to oppose the law on abortion can no longer get a hearing today. At this point, what other measure can we take to defend life? When a form of discourse is no longer followed, one must not go on doggedly but look for other ways.”

Sandro Magister concludes,  The cardinal “is a banal replicant of Bergoglio, however, when he too begins to repeat this litany so dear to the reigning pope: ‘Even the pastor does not always know the way or where to go. Sometimes it will be the sheep who find the way and the shepherd will follow with difficulty, step by step.’”

“Not to mention the reckless lapse into default, just like with Pope Francis, on the Aristotelian principle of non-contradiction, which Hollerich as well is not afraid to reverse to its contrary, with an extra touch of color à la japonaise, I am a bishop who comes from Japan and I think those experiences have offered me another horizon of thought and judgment.”

“The Japanese do not think as in the European logic of opposites. If we say a thing is black, it means it is not white. The Japanese, on the other hand, say: ‘It is white, but perhaps also black.’ In Japan opposites can be combined without changing the point of view.”