It’s remarkable, I think, that Francis’ selection has been an occasion for venting, as much at the Church itself as Francis, rather than celebration. I get the strong feeling that Catholics in the know have felt for a decade or more that the Church was affected with terminal decline. There’s has been a great deal of sharp criticism of the Church from Catholics ever since the sexual scandals started, particularly after it was clear that John Paul was going to protect the offenders rather than punish them, but still, the gloves hadn’t come off. Now, the gloves are coming off. Perhaps some were expecting, if not a “miracle Pope” then a perfect one, one who would do exactly what they wanted to see done. I admit that I didn’t follow the lead-up to Francis’ selection very closely, but if anyone touted any perfect candidates, I didn’t catch his name. I would be surprised if many Catholics can point to the cardinal who “should” have been selected. The selection of Francis seems to remind them that no pope, however, extraordinary, can restore the Church. The day of the supernatural is done, and the disenchantment of the world, as Max Weber would have it, is complete.
Afterwords
If you’re in the mood for testy takes on the new pontiff, and the challenges facing him, try Michael Brendan Dougherty’s snappily titled offering, “Why Pope Francis May Be a Catholic Nightmare.” At the Times, Rachel Donadio takes a slightly less confrontational approach, “Entrenched Troubles at Vatican Await a New Pope.”
Neither Dougherty nor Donadio mention the case of the missing priests, Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics, who were kidnapped and tortured by the Argentine Junta. However, Michael Warren has the goods on Bergoglio’s involvement with the Junta, which ruled the country from 1976-83, over at Salon. Although Bergoglio intervened to save the lives of the two Jesuits, “Yorio later accused Bergoglio of effectively delivering them to the death squads by declining to publicly endorse their work. Yorio is now dead, and Jalics has refused to discuss these events since moving into a German monastery.” Bergoglio is also accused of turning a blind eye to another scandal of the Junta’s reign, the “adoption” of the children of many “disappeared” individuals by members of the Junta. The struggles of families to locate the children taken from them during these years remains a very sore point in Argentina today.
Update
There’s a lot more about Bergoglio and the Junta, from Sam Ferguson at the New Republic. And a cheerfully titled piece in yesterday’s New York Times, “A Conservative With a Common Touch,” by Emily Schmall and Larry Richter, carries a sting in its tail, with information about Bergoglio’s, and the Church’s, involvement with protecting a thoroughly unsavory priest by the name of Christian von Wernich. Catholics better fasten their seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy flight.
