VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis says he has not considered issuing norms to govern future papal resignations and plans to remain as Bishop of Rome for as long as possible, despite a wave of criticism from some senior conservative cardinals and bishops papal priorities.
In his first interview since the death of retired Pope Benedict XVI. on December 31, Francis addressed his critics, his health and the next phase of his pontificate, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in March, without Benedict’s shadow in the background.
Francis’ comments, made Tuesday at the Vatican Hotel, where he lives, came at a particularly difficult time as the Pope navigates conservative opposition to his insistence on moving the Catholic Church toward a more welcoming, inclusive place make — criticism he attributed to the equivalent of a 10-year itch of his papacy.
“For the sake of silence, you prefer that you don’t criticize,” Francis told The Associated Press. “But I prefer that they do because that means there is free speech.”
Some commentators believe Francis could now maneuver more freely after Benedict’s death. Others suggest that any ecclesiastical peace that had reigned was over and that Francis now faces more criticism, having been stripped of the moderating influence Benedict played to keep the conservative Catholic fringe in check.
Francis admitted the knives were out, but seemed almost confident.
“I wouldn’t associate it with Benedict, but because of the wear and tear of 10 years of government,” Francis said of his critics. He argued that his election was initially greeted with a sense of “surprise” at a South American pope. Then came uneasiness, “when they started seeing my flaws and not liking them,” he said of his critics.
“All I ask is that they put it in my face because that’s how we all grow, right?” he added.
The pope, meanwhile, said he was in good shape, a minor fracture in his knee from a fall healed without surgery and ready to proceed with his agenda.
“I am in good health. I’m normal for my age,” the 86-year-old pope said, although he revealed diverticular disease, or bulging in his intestinal wall, had “returned.” Francis had 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed in 2021 because the Vatican said it was an inflammation that was causing his colon to narrow.
“Tomorrow I may die, but it’s under control. I’m in good health,” he said with his trademark wry humor.
Speculation about Francis’ health and the future of his pontificate only increased after the death of Benedict, whose resignation in 2013 marked a turning point for the Catholic Church as he became the first pope to retire in six centuries.
Francis praised Benedict as an “old-fashioned gentleman” and said of his death, “I lost a father.”
“For me he was a security. If in doubt, I would ask about the car and go to the monastery and ask,” he said of his visits to Benedict’s retirement home for advice. “I lost a good companion.”
Some cardinals and canons have said the Vatican must enact norms to regulate future papal retirements, to prevent the few hiccups that did occur during Benedict’s unexpectedly long retirement, during which he remained a point of reference for some conservatives and traditionalists who refused to recognize the legitimacy of Francis.
From the name Benedict chose (Pope Emeritus) to the (white) cassock he wore in his occasional public statements (about priestly celibacy and sexual abuse), these commentators said standards need to clarify that it’s about gives the Church only one reigning pope for the sake of unity.
Francis said that enacting such norms had never even occurred to him.
“I’m telling you the truth,” he said, adding that the Vatican needs more experience with papal resignations before settling on “regulating or regulating” them.
Francis has said Benedict has “opened the door” for future resignations and that he too would consider resigning. He reiterated Tuesday that if he resigned, he would be named Bishop Emeritus of Rome and live in the residence for retired priests in the diocese of Rome.
Francis said Benedict’s decision to live in a converted convent in the Vatican Gardens was a “good interim solution” but that future retired popes might want to do things differently.
“He was still ‘enslaved’ as Pope, wasn’t he?” said Franz. “Of the vision of a Pope, of a system. ‘Slave’ in the good sense of the word: He wasn’t entirely free in that, because he would have liked to return to his Germany and continue to study theology.”
By one calculation, Benedict’s death removes the main obstacle to Francis’ resignation, as the prospect of two retired popes was never an option. But Francis said Benedict’s death did not change his calculations. “It never occurred to me to write a will,” he said.
As for his own near future, Francis emphasized his role as “Bishop of Rome” as opposed to the Pope and said of his plans: “Remain bishop, Bishop of Rome in communion with all the bishops of the world.” He said he wanted the concept end the papacy as ruler or papal “court of justice”.
Francis also addressed the criticisms from cardinals and bishops that have surfaced in the weeks since Benedict’s death, saying it’s uncomfortable – “like a rash that bothers you a little” – but that’s better than it to keep under wraps. Francis has for years been attacked by conservatives and traditionalists who oppose his priorities on social justice issues such as poverty, migration and the environment.
“If that weren’t the case, there would be what I call a dictatorship of distance, where the emperor is there and nobody can say anything to him. No, let them speak because … criticism helps you grow and make things better,” he said.
The first salvo in the latest wave of attacks came from Benedict’s longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who revealed the bad blood that had accumulated over the past 10 years in a treasonable treatise published in the days after Benedict’s funeral.
In one of the most explosive passages, Gaenswein revealed that Benedict had learned from reading the Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano that Francis had reversed one of the former Pope’s most important liturgical decisions and once again restricted the celebration of the Old Latin Mass.
A few days later, the Vatican was rocked again by the death of another conservative stalwart, Cardinal George Pell, and the revelations that Pell was the author of a devastating memorandum circulated last year that described Francis’ pontificate as a “disaster.” ‘ and ‘disaster’ denoted .’
The memo, originally published under the pseudonym “Demos,” listed what it saw as problems in the Vatican under Francis, from precarious finances to the pope’s preaching style, and outlined bullet points for what a future pope should do to solve them.
Francis acknowledged Pell’s criticisms but nonetheless commended him for having been his “right hand man” in reforming the Vatican’s finances as its first Secretary of Commerce.
“Even if they say he criticized me, well, he’s right. Criticism is a human right,” said Francis. But he added: “He was a great guy. Great.”