RIP Francis

 

Pope Francis has died. 

No good honest Catholic should mourn.

Not because he was a bad pope. Because he lived 88 years. If he was a good man, he now has his reward. He is to be congratulated on the promotion. If he was a bad man, he had opportunity enough to repent if he were going to. Either way, time to move on.

Some are accusing JD Vance of killing the pope. I think there may be some truth to that. Francis was obliged to allow Vance an audience, since he had just granted one to the King of England. It would have been scandal had he not. But I imagine it was uncomfortable for him, as they had publicly clashed in the recent past. And I think Francis had reason to feel guilty about it: not only was it not his place to interfere in US politics, but I believe Vance’s position was sounder on Catholic doctrine than his own. He was playing politics at the expense of the faith.

In the video of their meeting, Francis seems to have difficulty looking Vance in the eye.

He died the next morning of a stroke and a heart attack. 

Commonly the result of stress or sudden shock.

According to one journalist who interviewed him. Francis did not believe in hell. He thought that, if one did not deserve heaven, the soul simply evaporated. He may find out now if he was right. Or rather, if he was wrong. If he was right, he may never know.

Francis was a bad pope. The whole job of a pope is to give clear guidance: to lead the faithful like a shepherd. Pope Benedict was magnificent on this; Pope John Paul II was great on this. Francis failed on this, as did, by and large, Pope Paul VI. His pronouncements were relentlessly ambiguous. The result is always discord in the church; and in individual souls. Sheep stray, confused.

It is folly to predict who will next be pope. It is usually a surprise, and there is a rush to figure out who this guy is.

But there are general trends. The decisive John XXIII was followed by the over-cautious, ambiguous Paul VI, who seemed mostly a manager. The prevaricating Paul was followed by John Paul I, but for only a month; then by John Paul II. JPII was decisive, to balance Paul, and young and full of energy, to balance the frail JPI. 

JPII’s pontificate was successful enough that Benedict was named—a rare case when the successor was obvious; the effective second in command. 

However, returning to form, the decisive Benedict was followed by the managerial and prevaricating Francis.

It follows that we can have some hope that the cardinals will settle now on someone strong on doctrinal clarity; and not, as many fear, a “Francis 2.0.”

Here’s praying.