by Joel Mathis, The Week
Pope Benedict was an ardent defender of Catholic traditions. Pope Francis, who died Monday, chose a more liberal direction. Which way will the church, famously resistant to change, move under his successor?
“Papal successions are not like presidential transitions,” said Anthony Faiola and Michelle Boorstein at The Washington Post. New popes do not “openly set about undoing the legacy” of their predecessors. But much can change in “style, emphasis, guidance and law.” Francis backed away from the Latin Mass, allowed priestly blessings of same-sex couples and moved to decentralize the power of the church. But those changes didn’t come without controversy, and could be reversed. “These innovations have been contested and rejected by many Catholics,” said Rev. Gerald Murray. The next pope could “restate perennial Catholic doctrine.”
Leading a church in decline
Francis “bent but did not break doctrinal orthodoxy,” said Ed Kilgore at New York magazine. Those who hoped to see “full acceptance of gay or divorced Catholics” or the embrace of women in the clergy were disappointed, but the late pontiff “may have opened doors once firmly closed to future consideration.” Francis reshaped the College of Cardinals that will choose his successor, making it more diverse, but he was “less concerned about doctrinal conformity” in his choices, putting both progressives and traditionalists in key positions. Everything is in play: The new pope could “be a protege of Francis, or someone inclined to turn back clocks.”
Read also: The extraordinary scale of the crisis facing the next pope by Damian Thompson, Spectator
Roman Catholic Liberals and Anglican Revisionists Have Much in Common by David Virtue, Virtueonline
Why We Need a Pope From Africa by Fr Dwight Longenecker, Crisis Magazine
After Francis, who? by Charles Moore, Spectator
(Image courtesy of The Spectator)