On the same day that the Church in Rome buried Pope Francis I had the privilege of offering a funeral Mass and burial for a woman who, almost 40 years ago, was among those who requested of Cardinal Hickey, then Archbishop of Washington, a southern Maryland venue at which to offer the Latin Mass. That location turned out to be my parish of Saint Francis de Sales and I was the priest who took up that task in 2010 as a new pastor there.
In
preparation for the obsequies we were making an effort to ascertain who might
receive Communion at the Mass and so were asking who among the mourners were
practicing Catholics. One woman, who at first described herself as such, later
changed her mind after it was explained that “practicing Catholic” implies
attending holy Mass every Sunday. This is only one example of the rampant
confusion so common today which only deepens every time a priest, bishop or
pope says or does anything that serves to undermine or contradict the Faith.
The
Gospel, the Word of God through Revelation in sacrament and teaching, is handed
down by Tradition to be received as a sacred gift, not as the personal property
of the Church’s minister.
The beauty, consistency and coherence of all the Traditions, to include the venerable Roman rite, have changed my faith and life for the better, conferring many gifts and graces. Serenity and strength of confidence in Christ as a rock in times of uncertainty were among the gifts bestowed on me and which continue now when leadership and vision are so very lacking where we need and have a right to expect it.
The
bishops are the ones charged above all with leading and guiding God’s people by
means of the truths of our Faith. But so often, instead, we have only
contradictions and worldly concerns substituted for the substance of faith.
The
days of “sede vacante” transition between one papacy and another were, sadly, no
different.
Discussion of continuing the “legacy” of the previous pope
without clarification is dangerous but also entirely unnecessary. A pope who
says or does what no pope or bishop should ever say or do should never be
trusted by any member of the faithful, not to speak of any cardinal elected
pope to succeed him. Talk of furthering his “legacy” is dangerously ambiguous.
Of course, wherever a pope teaches what the Church teaches should be continued
by his successor. This should be obvious.
But to speak of a “legacy” without the necessary clarification leaves the door open to perpetuating errors, rather than correcting them. There have, unfortunately, been no lack of errors in the twelve-year pontificate just concluded. These must be renounced - any pastor of souls who cannot comprehend why should not be entrusted with pastoral responsibility.
We
were given insights into the thinking of some of the men considered “papabile”,
candidates for the papacy, in the conclave just concluded.
In
the “novendiales”, the nine days of mourning by the Church and the world for
Pope Francis, my parish erected a catafalque to honor his passing and pray for
his salvation. We offered the Requiem Mass for his eternal soul.
It
is a duty and a privilege to both memorialize his life and papacy as well as
offer the most powerful gift of our Church for a departed soul: Christ’s own
prayer and self-offering for all sinners. We do what the Church does. This is
what Tradition means.
We
also scrupulously avoid doing what the Church does not do: reflexively
declaring that a newly departed soul is in heaven. Such a statement contradicts
the belief and practice of the Church. It is reckless and dishonest as well as
discouraging of the necessity and duty of prayer to decide on one’s own
authority a soul is in heaven, something one could not possibly know.
Guessing
is not faith. Faith must always be the truth conferred on the Church, not the
preferences or imaginings of those who share the Catholic Faith despite their
human weakness.
During
the liturgies of the novendiales, however, more than one cardinal took quite a
leap by declaring Pope Francis is in heaven.
The
day after the late pope’s burial in Santa Maria Maggiore, on Divine Mercy
Sunday, Cardinal Parolin said the following, as reported at Cruxnow.com:
“Divine
Mercy Sunday is a time to remember Pope Francis, he said, and addressed the
roughly 200,000 people present, saying, ‘to you, to all of us, to the whole
world, Pope Francis extends his embrace from Heaven.’
That’s
quite a leap. Even for a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church.
The
Church commends all who have died to the mercy of God. She does so by praying
for them. She does not auto-canonize them.
We
need cardinals who use measured and prudent speech, who reflect the faith of
the Church in all that they say. We have a right to “right teaching" but it is
very often sorely lacking at the highest levels and among those who will choose
and serve as our next pope.
The
pope and his collaborators undertake a duty given by Christ to “feed the
sheep.” This means to hand down pure doctrine, not opinions which contradict
it. Exaggerations are what we expect from uneducated and emotional people, not
men of virtue, any one of whom may become one day responsible for the salvation
of over a billion souls as has the former Cardinal Prevost.
Cardinal
Reina at Mass, also with brother cardinals, bishops and many faithful on Monday
of the novendiales, also in the course of his homily did it again: declared
Francis is in heaven.
To
repeat, this is reckless and confusing speech from one who should be better
prepared to accurately reflect the faith of the Church.
Churches are emptying except where the Church’s immemorial worship is offered. People are praying less. Perhaps one of the missions for our new pope would be to teach the necessity of prayer, above all of the holy Mass.
Our
Lord taught us to “Pray always.” He left us His own example of prayer. He
taught us to pray with the words of the “Our Father”. The legacy of Christ is
what we need in the Church. The popes together proclaim Christ, not themselves
or their own agenda.
Indeed, it would certainly be nothing less than divinely inspired if new pope should choose, as his motto, “Non enim scire nisi Jesum Christum et hunc crucifixum." That is a “legacy” upon which we can all stand and from which, in Christ our Lord and for the whole Church, faithfully look to the future, both in time and eternity.
Salve, Papa Leone XIV. Oremus pro invicem.
A version of this essay appeared in The Wanderer Catholic Newspaper, May 8, 2025.
