The Pope's Travels: Words and Deeds

The Italian journalist writes: “Often the Pope's speeches during his international trips are adapted to the needs of the hosts (with what are called ‘reasonable adjustments’). Thus, for some time now, the Pope's speeches have become less and less prophetic and more and more bureaucratic.

“Francis' denunciations have become a monotonous reiteration of a list of socio-political or socio-economic emergencies, all right but in the abstract, without indicating, so to speak, with ‘first and last name,’ those responsible. It is not unusual to get the impression that what is important is the image of the 'progressive' Pontiff, the 'reforming' Pontiff.”

In Luxembourg

In the light of these reflections, it is easy to grasp what Nico Spuntoni reports in La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana on September 27, on the Apostolic Journey to Luxembourg: “The one [journey] to the small European nation was really a pit stop, which ended yesterday in the late afternoon.

“Peace, migrants, and the birth rate were at the heart of his speeches and his call for a Church that welcomes ‘todos, todos, todos.’ A slogan already used in the past to defend the controversial declaration Fiducia supplicans [on the blessing of homosexual couples].

“The ‘pacifist’ Pope recalled that ‘war is always a defeat’ and that ‘peace is necessary,’ warning that it is necessary that ‘the daily life of peoples and their rulers be animated by high and profound spiritual values, which prevent the madness of reason and the irresponsible return to the same errors of the past.’

“And the theme of migrants was given pride of place right from the plane, with a gift from a Spanish journalist: a Senegalese cloth bag made by a group of refugees who had arrived in the Canary Islands.”

But in this chaplet of good intentions, Nico Spuntoni brings up a question that arises: initially this 46th Apostolic Journey was at the invitation of the Catholic University of Louvain, on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of its founding, so why was Luxembourg added? Nico Spuntoni points out that Francis is keen to visit the peripheries, and that the Grand Duchy, although very rich, can be considered a spiritual periphery.

But he then adds, more plausibly: “Some, however, see the Pope's choice as an act of gratitude to Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich. The Luxembourg Jesuit is in fact General Rapporteur of the Synod of Bishops, and his visit comes just before the opening of the last session of the synodal assembly.

“Hollerich represents the leading cardinal from the most progressive side of the college, promoting an ultra-liberal program that would change the catechism's teaching on homosexuality and introduce the female priesthood. [...] Bergoglio also publicly congratulated him for using the expression ‘evolution of the Luxembourg Church in a secularized society.’

“Faced with secularization, the Church must rise to the challenge without resigning itself: Francis' point of view is in line with that expressed in his latest book by Cardinal Jozef De Kesel, the former Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels,” who is also very progressive.

In Belgium

In La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana of September 30, Nico Spuntoni reports on the trip to Belgium, where the tone was different: “What is certain is that yesterday, on the return flight from Brussels, the Pope expressed his irritation at the treatment he received in Louvain.

“First, the rector, Luc Sels, sharply reproached him for treating the 'question of gender diversity in such a rigid way' and called for the Church to 'be more open towards the LGBTQ+ community' and even the female priesthood.

“Then the incident at the Catholic University, with the critical letter from students and professors on women and homosexuality, in the face of which the Pope did not back down, saying ‘no’ to ideologies that claim to decide what is feminine and adding—probably in response to those who pressed him on women's ordination—that it is ‘ugly when a woman wants to be a man.’

“But those in charge of the University, which still retains the definition of ‘Catholic,’ were unwilling to let the Pope have the last word and, even before the meeting ended, published a note expressing ‘incomprehension and disapproval of the position expressed by Pope Francis on the place of women in the Church and in society.’

“Some of the students took part in a veritable distribution of leaflets among the crowd leaving the amphitheatre to deliver the text of this statement. [...] Bergoglio was rightly outraged and spoke about it on the flight to Rome, explaining that the protest statement ‘was made when I was speaking. It was prepared in advance and that is not moral.’”

We can only be delighted to see François standing firm against LGBTQ+ ideology, just as he supported the attitude of King Baudouin who, in 1990, refused to promulgate the abortion law, preferring to be “suspended” for 48 hours, after sending a letter to Parliament expressing his opposition.

Nevertheless, the public support given to Luxembourg's Cardinal Hollerich, who wants to modify the catechism on homosexuality, and the announcement of the forthcoming elevation to the cardinalate of the English Dominican Radcliffe, actively in favor of the recognition of homosexuality in the Church, are acts that speak louder than even the most vigorous declarations.