Press review: The first hundred days of the Pope
The first trimester of the pontificate of Pope Francis is the occasion for some journalists to make the assessment of the first hundred days that is usually reserved for political figures. Antoine-Marie Izoard of the Roman news agency I.Media reports as follows the various reactions to the acts and gestures of the new pope: “‘When will he finally act like the Pope?’ asks one regular visitor to the Vatican who would like to see Jorge Mario Bergoglio move finally into the papal apartments and give up his ways that are better suited to a “rural pastor”. The more severe critics demand that he stop ‘playing the chaplain of the Casa Santa Marta’, while the more enthusiastic commentators exclaim, ‘Finally, some fresh air!’ Paradoxically, those most affected by the new pontiff sometimes seem to be on the ‘peripheries’, as he himself likes to describe those to whom the Church must go out to proclaim the Gospel.”
Among his most remarkable gestures, A.-M. Izoard singles out “the spins in the popemobile—from which he does not hesitate to climb down to greet a sick person or an old lady—during major celebrations or general audiences...: the most recent incident was an invitation to a young Argentine man with Down syndrome to join him and to sit down in his place on the leather seat of the white vehicle. The little revolution of gestures continues with this incident; it started in the very first days of his pontificate when, while walking through the corridors of the Secretariat of State, Pope Francis turned off the lights in an empty office, thus pointing a moral to those who were accompanying him.”
But at a deeper level it is “the status of Pope Bergoglio’s interventions that raises a question. Thus, from his remarks confided to Latin-American religious—among others about the ‘gay lobby’ at the Vatican—to his largely improvised speeches, via his daily morning homilies, no one can say exactly what is part of the Magisterium and what is not. Others point a finger at the [listener’s] fatigue that could result from too frequent speeches by the pope, with little phrases that are pastorally forceful but have already been heard a number of times.”
Among the things expected in the coming months, A.-M. Izoard includes nominations in the Curia, but the Pope wanted to allow himself time for prayer and consultation “before any nomination or definitive confirmation of his close collaborators. They are in suspense, awaiting confirmation. Some confide that they look at each other without really knowing what the future will be like. Day after day, the pope meets the heads of the Curial dicasteries, and receives visitors from all over the world. After this collegial exercise, the time will come for the decision. The appointment of a new Secretary of State, some venture to guess, will take place within the next three months. In early October he will meet with his “G-8”, the eight cardinals called to advise him, particularly about the reform of the Curial. But many of them have already passed through Rome, individually, and are already studying up on the subject. Some attribute to the pope also the intention to reform the Institute for Works of Religion.”
The author adds: “Expectations extend also to the first apostolic journey of Pope Francis, to the World Youth Days in Rio de Janeiro. In Brazil, the Argentine Pope will undergo his international baptism of fire. ‘We wanted to elect a pastor and a man of governance,’ one of the participants in the conclave last March confides today, without concealing the fact that the cardinals, many of whom knew very little about him, were nevertheless surprised by his style. Although the highly pastoral aptitude of the new pontiff is already certain, he must now give proof of his abilities to govern. Many of those who know him say that after listening a lot, Jorge Mario Bergoglio knows how to make, alone, firm and irrevocable decisions.”
This assurance is given by the Uruguayan, Guzman Carriquiry, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, who has been closely acquainted with the pope for 47 years, in an interview granted to Maria Malzac of I.Media. “I have worked for 42 years at the Vatican and I have known Bergoglio for 47 years. He has a very great ability to govern,” he declares, before going on to explain: “He will listen to the eight cardinals, he will let them advise him.... But the history of Father Bergoglio, then of the Archbishop and the Cardinal and even more of Pope Francis, demonstrates that he is the one who will make the decisions, in solitude before God.”
Nevertheless Jean-Marie Guénois of Le Figaro notes a change in the style of governance between Francis and Benedict XVI, because of their different interpretations of the Second Vatican Council. According to the French journalist, “the whole pontificate of Benedict XVI consisted in reconciling the adherents of ‘progressivism’ with the high ‘tradition’ of the Church. But with Francis, who cites Paul VI more than any other pope and is thinking of a plan for a ‘permanent synod’ so that the Church may be governed ‘collegially’, and therefore collectively, by the bishops, what is at work is a certain ‘spirit of the Council’ that was fought by Benedict XVI....”
(Sources : IMedia/Apic/Figaro – DICI no.278 dated July 5, 2013)
