Pope Francis: Sloganeering Politician, by Henry Sire

By Henry Sire, One Peter Five, March 1, 2024

In Super Hanc Petram Fr Serafino Lanzetta studies with care the teachings of the present Pope, a task which all his admirers will agree is very laudable.

Speaking for myself, one of the many doctrines of Pope Francis with which I fully agree is that “the reality is greater than the idea”. In this case, the reality is that Pope Francis is a politician; and, as with all politicians, his pronouncements are slogans in his essential aim of courting power and popularity. Fr Lanzetta, however, has chosen a more painstaking approach, that of analysing the Pope’s words in detail and thereby pointing out the shallowness and incoherence they represent. From both methods the greater reality emerges.

Among the interesting results of Fr Lanzetta’s approach is to disclose a paradox in Pope Francis’s treatment of the Second Vatican Council. He makes much of the Council as a revolutionary event, yet, as the author shows, he hardly ever actually quotes the Council. The (approving) words of Fr Antonio Spadaro are given:

I get the impression that the pope simply considers the council an event that is not up for debate and that, as if to stress its fundamental importance, is not worth discussing at too great a length.

Quite so. If one actually read what the Council taught, there would be a danger of the God of Surprises catching one unawares.

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