Reign of terror in Rome bringing sadness to the Holy City

Roman sadness

It is one thing to be told, and another to see it. I have been saddened by this truth in recent days. Some Roman friends often tell me in and out of confidence about what goes on inside the Vatican walls, and Specola also gives us this kind of news on a daily basis, and he knows a lot about it. But another thing is to personally verify the facts and confirm the conclusion that we all know: Pope Francis is not liked by anyone; neither by bishops, nor by priests nor by the faithful, wherever they may be. And beyond the fact that we do not particularly like the Roman Pontiff, it is very sad to see the profound rejection of his figure. Whether we like it or not, he is the Vicar of Christ. 

I have been able to speak in recent weeks with priests from all walks of life. There is no need to pour out here the views of conservatives and traditionalists. Everyone knows them. What has struck me is that the most progressive priests, who are generally also the oldest, have the same dislike for Bergoglio as their younger colleagues. It is no longer a doctrinal question of traditionalists versus progressives; it is something more basic and has to do with the human and the institutional. They cannot understand, for example, the Pope's permanent aggressiveness towards them; they claim on both sides that they are astonished that whenever he refers to priests it is always in strongly negative terms: they are careerists, greedy, grumpy, proselytisers, criminals, look at pornography, have psychiatric problems, etc. Never a word of encouragement. Never a word of encouragement; never closeness. It is as if the enemy is speaking, and not the father who should be confirming them in the faith. Someone more wicked and sharp, commented to me that this is a typical case of projection: Bergoglio projects onto priests - and he himself is one - the characteristics that he unconsciously knows he possesses and detests. In other words, he rejects others because it is he himself who is reflected in them. 

In the Vatican Curia, they live in terror. "Il cretino gloriosamente regnante", is an expression that is heard with some frequency within the sacred walls. But the most repeated word is terror. It is the regime that the Argentinian pope has installed there. Nobody knows how long he will be in office and, worse still, nobody knows who is spying on whom, for that is another of Bergoglio's methods: spying, to find out what each of the priests and religious who walk around the Sacred Palace are thinking and saying. It is the same method he applied in Argentina when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires and kept spies in all the dioceses and religious congregations. But in Rome, moreover, he trusts absolutely what his procurators tell him, and so there are several curial figures who have received the message: "The Holy Father wants to talk to you", and half an hour later they were in the street.

Another thing that puzzles and infuriates everyone is what he is doing with the College of Cardinals and the College of Bishops. And I insist, these comments do not come from conservative sectors but on the contrary. It is a question of institutional nature. It is not possible, some Italian priests told me, that the oldest and most prestigious sees of that country such as Milan, Naples, Venice, Palermo or Turin do not have cardinals, while new and insignificant sees do. This infuriates not only the incumbents of these sees who are left without a biretta, but also the faithful, who understandably feel hurt when faced with a pontiff who denies them a privilege they have had for centuries.

What we are seeing in Argentina with episcopal appointments is happening all over the world. In our country, Francis has appointed a swarm of bishops chosen from among the least trained and qualified priests for the episcopal ministry, and over the years the consequences of such decisions will be seen. And the same is true in much of the world. People who have known him very well for many years told me that Bishop Robert Prevost, who a few weeks ago was appointed prefect of the dicastery of bishops, one of the most important and powerful positions in the Church, is a nothing. It is not that he is progressive or conservative; he is insignificant, just one of the bunch, limited, diminished in stature. And it will be this good gentleman who will be in charge of appointing the bishops of the whole world.... 

Finally, a group of American priests, moderate and by no means traditionalist, commented to me on the enormous unease caused in California by the cardinal appointment of the bishop of San Diego, a small suffragan diocese, while the archbishop of Los Angeles, its metropolitan, is not. And the problem is not just who wears the purple; the problem is that Cardinal Robert McElroy is extremely progressive, too progressive even for his own people.

In the end, Pope Francis will not be mourned by anyone; only his cronies, those who will lose their ignoble posts and functions with his death, will do some pouting.

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