Breathe
By Mónica Uribe
Between February and March 2013, the Catholic world experienced an avalanche of surprises. In the midst of a series of scandals and betrayals affecting the entire Church, Pope Benedict XVI surprisingly resigned from the throne of St. Peter. This forced the realization of a conclave, with a pope in retirement, alive, healthy and lucid, who would coexist with an acting pontiff.
The second surprise. Among the possible candidates for the papacy, an Argentine Jesuit was included, which was strange because the Society of Jesus did not enjoy the support of John Paul II or Benedict XVI. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was not exactly the favorite profile of the two previous pontiffs, but he was institutional. As archbishop of Buenos Aires he had done important work in defense of his flock, and had even confronted the Argentine government on issues ranging from social justice to the defense of life from conception. He was also a very active bishop at the continental level, participating fully in the activities of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council, and was well regarded among his peers for his balanced positions between liberationist progressivism and the conservatism that divides the bishops of the region. Years later it would be known that in the conclave of 2005 he was one of the cardinals who obtained the most votes behind the then Cardinal Ratzinger.
Cardinal Bergoglio resigned from the See of Buenos Aires on his 75th birthday in December 2011, as required by canon 401 of the Code of Canon Law, but his resignation was not accepted, an indicator of his good standing in Rome. On March 13, 2013, Jorge Bergoglio was elected pope. This was the third surprise: for the first time a Jesuit sat on the throne of St. Peter. His profile seemed distant from his two immediate predecessors: neither European nor great philosopher or theologian. That was the fourth surprise, a Spanish-speaking pontiff, little accustomed to Roman intricacies, but with not inconsiderable pastoral and political experience and, personally, a man who had experienced the joys of rapid ascent and the ices of ostracism within the Society. The 266th successor of St. Peter chose to be called Francis, after the saint of Assisi, patron saint of the poor and ecology, which gave clues as to what his pontificate would be like.
Almost twelve years later, we are facing a situation similar to that of 2013: with an ailing pope and a Church in crisis, but in a different sense than then. Today, some of the elements that provoked Benedict XVI's resignation have been addressed and relatively solved: financial corruption, the influence of the gay lobby, scandals related to sexual abuse, internal administrative disorder, among others. The relative primacy of the universal priesthood of the faithful, which neither of Francis' two predecessors wanted to implement, was emphasized and progress was made in giving women a place in the Church. Today, Sister Raffaella Petrini governs the Vatican City State, something unthinkable only ten years ago.
