{"id":248316,"date":"2025-02-27T22:44:24","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T22:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/27\/francis-illness-raises-a-hard-question-who-governs-if-the-pope-cant\/"},"modified":"2025-02-27T22:44:24","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T22:44:24","slug":"francis-illness-raises-a-hard-question-who-governs-if-the-pope-cant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/27\/francis-illness-raises-a-hard-question-who-governs-if-the-pope-cant\/","title":{"rendered":"Francis\u2019 Illness Raises a Hard Question: Who Governs if the Pope Can\u2019t?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/28\/multimedia\/28pope-1-zgqj\/28pope-1-zgqj-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Francis\u2019 Illness Raises a Hard Question: Who Governs if the Pope Can\u2019t?\" title=\"Francis\u2019 Illness Raises a Hard Question: Who Governs if the Pope Can\u2019t?\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Since being hospitalized with acute pneumonia for two weeks, Pope Francis has signed off on the appointment of 20 bishops, accepted the resignations of at least four and approved moving five people along the road to sainthood, according to the daily bulletin on the Vatican website.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some of the events noted were more esoteric, like his appointing a cardinal to represent him in April at the 1,000th anniversary celebration of the coronation of Boleslaw I the Brave, the first king of Poland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Overall, the public tenor of the Holy See has changed absent its most public face and voice \u2014 lacking the weekly appearances of the pope and his pronouncements on important global issues, like rebuking the Trump administration over immigrant deportations. Yet the machinery of the Vatican state churns on even while the 88-year-old pontiff lies in a hospital with no discharge on the calendar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cFrancis is still governing, he is in contact with his aides,\u201d Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesman, said in response to a question about the pope\u2019s work. \u201cWhat he is missing is the contact with the faithful, the general audiences, the pastoral activity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a statement on Thursday evening, the Vatican said that the pope\u2019s clinical condition continued to improve. He was alternating between using a high flow of oxygen and a ventilation mask, it said, and had spent the morning doing respiratory physiotherapy and resting, before an afternoon round of physiotherapy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIn view of the complexity of the clinical picture, further days of clinical stability are required to determine the prognosis,\u201d the Vatican statement said. The Vatican press office added that the pope was no longer considered in critical condition, but was still not out of danger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yet the whole ordeal of his extended stay at Gemelli hospital, the longest of his papacy, with no public appearances, has awakened old concerns among church experts and observers about who would govern the church if this or any pope were to fall into a coma or otherwise be incapacitated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To a certain extent, the Holy See operates much like a political system with a president and a prime minister. The pope, the president in this scenario, deals with major policy pronouncements and appointments, while the secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, oversees day-to-day matters involved in running the Vatican itself and the global church.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The powers limited to the pope alone include appointing bishops, accepting retirements and issuing new decrees to change Vatican law. In addition, the bureaucracy would be unlikely to make policy pronouncements on issues of global import, like cease-fire negotiations in Gaza, without his imprimatur.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Inevitably, Francis\u2019 illness postpones some decisions, which critics of his agenda do not mind. Before he fell ill, for example, Francis dissolved the Sodality of Christian Life, a controversial Catholic organization founded in Peru. Some of the group\u2019s supporters had hoped his illness might slow the implementation of the decision, said John Allen, the editor of Crux, an independent online news site covering the Catholic Church. But Vatican officials and experts alike said there has been no particular slowdown during this hospitalization because the pope, while ailing, remains alert and able to engage with those around him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Business rolls along as usual \u201cas long as the pope can understand what people are saying to him and can sign his name,\u201d said the Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a longtime Vatican analyst and the author of the book \u201cInside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But there are no established legal guidelines for what to do when that is not the case, especially if any incapacity endured for months rather than weeks. In the case of a brief hospitalization, a lot of those actions already in the pipeline could continue without a hitch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But major decisions, like whom to appoint as archbishop in a high-profile city, would be problematic. It would also be extremely difficult to remove an errant cardinal or other prominent figure, experts said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Pope Francis, like Paul VI in the 1960s, announced that soon after assuming the papacy in 2013, he signed a resignation letter in case he was ever incapacitated. But its contents have remained secret, and experts point to a number of legally murky issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">First, who gets to decide that the pope is incapacitated? And second, church law states that for any resignation to be valid the pope must have freely chosen to make the decision. Some legal experts wonder whether a letter written more than a decade ago would pass muster as a \u201cfreely chosen\u201d decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In recent history, the question was most acute during the long decline of Pope John Paul II, who began suffering from Parkinson\u2019s disease years before his death in 2005. Although he could still answer \u201cYes\u201d or \u201cNo,\u201d his evident decline fed questions in the Vatican rumor mill about who was really making decisions, said Father Reese.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A far more dire consequence that some of John Paul\u2019s defenders attribute to his slowed facilities was the lack of a response from the church to widespread accusations of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe church has paid a significant price for that in the 20 years since then,\u201d said Dr. Miles Pattenden, a history professor and the author of \u201cThe Cambridge History of the Papacy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The problem of ailing popes is not exactly a new one, but is far more complicated in the age of social media, instant communication and greater longevity. \u201cIn the bad old days, the doctors would kill him quickly through bleeding and terrible medicine,\u201d said Father Reese, or \u201cjust lock him in a back room and run the church.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Before 1700, there was an established precedent of a \u201ccardinal nephew,\u201d a close relative of an ailing pope, running matters in his name. \u201cAn old or elderly pope who was infirm would stay in bed and his nephew would run the government,\u201d said Dr. Pattenden, and while the practice was still extant the nephew would often become pope himself when his older relative passed away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Church leaders have long been reluctant to address the issue of defining when a pope might be considered incapacitated because it impedes the theory that a pope must have complete freedom to act, said Mr. Allen. \u201cNobody can tell a pope when it is over,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is extraordinarily delicate to navigate how you get to the end of a papacy without the pope\u2019s express will.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The hurdles are evident in specific provisions like Canon 335 of Vatican law, which states that if the Holy See is \u201cvacant or entirely impeded\u201d then nothing can be altered in the governance of the church. But \u201centirely impeded\u201d is not defined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Francis\u2019s predecessor, Benedict XVI, resigned at 85, citing age and infirmity, but he was an extreme outlier \u2014 no pope had stepped down in almost 600 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Given the leaps in modern medicine to prolong life, an international group of Catholic legal experts has proposed norms to flesh out what constituted \u201centirely impeded,\u201d and had called for the transfer of governing authority to the entire College of Cardinals or a commission, depending on how long the pope was incapacitated. If a committee of experts deemed the pope\u2019s incapacity irreversible, cardinals in the Curia would have to declare his governing days over and call a conclave to name a new pope.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But those were only proposals and to date no established law has seen the light of day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With the pope\u2019s condition slowly improving, there appears to be less urgency, but depending on how long his hospital stay lasts, it still could have an effect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The streets of Vatican City and the churches of Rome are full of pilgrims here for the church\u2019s Jubilee Year, but their hopes of seeing Pope Francis have been dashed while he remains in the hospital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe big reason that most people would come to Rome during a Jubilee Year is to see the pope,\u201d Mr. Allen said. \u201cIf you cannot see the pope, that puts a damper on things.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/27\/world\/europe\/pope-francis-vatican-governs.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since being hospitalized with acute pneumonia for two weeks, Pope Francis has signed off on the appointment of 20 bishops, accepted the resignations of at least four and approved moving five people along the road to sainthood, according to the daily bulletin on the Vatican website. Some of the events noted were more esoteric, like [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/28\/multimedia\/28pope-1-zgqj\/28pope-1-zgqj-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[164764,18714,37416,8242,21318,33085,13327,40147,1728,506,164769,149405],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248316"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":248318,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248316\/revisions\/248318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}