Jesuit Expert Sharply Criticizes Pope Francis’ Reform Efforts

By Jerry Slevin
Christian Catholicism
February 20, 2015

http://christiancatholicism.com/jesuit-expert-sharply-criticizes-pope-francis-reform-efforts/

Poor Pope Francis! First, a Salesian priest, Cardinal Bertone, tries to lay his lavish apartment excesses on the pope.

Now, Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese, the world’s leading expert on Vatican organizational structure with a UC Berkeley Ph.D. in political science, piles on.

Reese is the author of the highly regarded, “Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church” discussed at Amazon here, [Amazon] .

Reese has now sharply, bravely and boldly criticized the pope’s inadequate efforts to reform the Vatican’s hierarchical structure. Please see Reese’s, “Pope Francis’ reform of the Roman Curia is moving too slowly” here, [National Catholic Reporter] .

Predictably, Jesuit Reese’s bias is towards a clerical structural reform, which will also fail in my view. For a relevant discussion of what Pope Francis needs to include in his vision of the Petrine ministry if he wants to save the Catholic Church. please see my remarks, “The Crisis Pope Francis Faces” here, [Christian Catholicism]

Jesuit educated Fr. Hans Kung, whom Pope Francis has honored recently with replies, etc., and whose former assistant, Cardinal Walter Kasper, reportedly is the pope’s theologian of choice, has complimented me on these reform remarks of mine.

These remarks, unlike my usual ad hoc advocacy remarks which Hans Kung has never endorsed, are my considered and best effort to point Pope Francis to an efficacious path to required reforms.

Reese makes some perceptive and pertinent observations, including (in bold italics):

“As Pope Francis approaches the second anniversary of his election as pope, progress on reforming the Vatican Curia is moving too slowly. It should be moving faster.”

“The greatest progress has been made in reforming the finances of the Vatican, which has mainly focused on where the money is, … ”

“In theory, this is the easiest part of Vatican reform. Financial reform is neither rocket science nor theology; it is simply good management practices developed by businesses, governments, and nonprofits to provide transparency and accountability. It requires clear procedures, training of employees, and proper supervision.”

“Reforming the Roman Curia, the part of the Vatican that helps the pope in his Petrine ministry, is more difficult.”

“Reforming the Roman Curia requires a theological vision for the Petrine ministry, a sense of what the church needs today, and a practical understanding of how to organize people to implement it.”

“First, what is the theological vision of the Petrine ministry? Is the pope an infallible, absolute monarch in whom all wisdom resides or is he first among equals who acts collegially with the college of bishops?”

“That it took the council of cardinals two years to come up with this reshuffling of boxes on the organizational chart simply shows that they really don’t know what they are doing.”

“It should have taken two months to develop this plan, not two years. At this pace, Pope Francis will be dead before real reform hits the Curia.”

“A conspiracy theorist would say that getting the council of cardinals to focus on this reorganization was a way of distracting them from any real reform in the Curia. Let the cardinals talk about the councils. Keep them away from the congregations. “

Meanwhile, Pope Francis must still be reeling from Salesian Bertone’s latest charade. Cardinal Tercisio Bertone, in effect, has ignobly pointed the finger of blame, for some of his main misdeeds, at his former longtime boss, ex-Pope Benedict, as well as at the former Vatican Bank directors, and even at Pope Francis, for whom he worked for seven months.

Hardly “Omerta” on Bertone’s part, no?

The Vatican Bank directors evidently include Carl Anderson, still the head of another financially oriented organization, the Knights of Columbus (USA). Anderson reportedly was a key mover in the sudden ouster of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the Vatican Bank’s ex-head, who subsequently cleared Italian government financial investigators unscathed.

Anderson was abruptly replaced by Francis on the Bank’s board as more Bank scandals became public.

Anderson appears to continue to have influence with Francis, as they evidently work together to help elect as US president next year a right wing “low tax” Republican, probably the latest Bush candidate, Jeb. For Anderson’s continuing role, please see “How One Religious Organization Bankrolls America’s Social Conservative Movement” here,

[churchandstate.org.uk]

At the same time as Bertone tries to lay blame on others, including Pope Francis, Bertone has subtly and publicly taken credit for several positive Francis’ actions, including on Cuba/USA relations, as mostly his and Benedict initiatives per Bertone’s telling.

In his recent “softball interview” in the Huffington Post , Bertone offered a truly pathetic example of “bureaucratic buck passing” and “revisionist history.”

Bertone’s interview version of Vatican Bank scandals differs considerably from the remarkably revealing expose (1/8/15) of Tedeschi, the Vatican Bank’s ex-head, under the Catholic Herald banner headline, “HOW I WAS BETRAYED BY THE VATICAN” here, [Catholic Herald] , discussed further in my “Ex-Bank Head Presses Pope, ex-Pope & Cardinal Bertone” here, [Christian Catholicism] .

Bertone had spent almost two decades, often with considerable authority as the evidently “management adverse” ex-Pope’s top aide. This included the period when ex-pope Ratzinger was in charge as Cardinal of seemingly covering up some priest child abuse scandals, such as the Milwaukee priest who reportedly sexually abused over two hundred deaf boys, as well as the Fr. Marciel Maciel scandals after Cardinal Sodano reportedly weighed in.

Bertone confirms that he knew ny mid-2012 that Benedict XVI was planning to quit “at least seven months” in advance of his mid-February 2013 public resignation announcement.

This means Bertone learned about the pope’s planned departure about the time the International Criminal Court prosecutor indicated she was giving the ex-Pope and Cardinals Bertone, Sodano and Levada a free pass on filing “crimes against humanity” charges related to the priest child abuse scandal, at least in the short term. That seems plausible enough. At 85 years of age, the ex-pope’s short term was long term as well !

Bertone reportedly indicated that he told Benedict: “Holy Father, you must bestow upon us the third volume on Jesus of Nazareth and the encyclical on faith, before you sign things over to Pope Francis.”

Of course, Francis was only selected in March 2013 AFTER Benedict left. Or was he selected earlier? By whom? Very interesting !

Still very revealing, though. The Vatican Titanic was already sinking in 2012 on child abuse, gay lobby and financial scandal icebergs. Bertone now expects us to believe he emphasized to the pope that he should stick around to write more books few would read after he resigns. Will Bertone’s memoirs also contain such seeming fiction?

Similarly, when asked if it was difficult to make a pope change his mind, particularly a German one… , Bertone reportedly almost incredibly replied, “When they [popes] make certain decisions before God, how can we humans presume to interfere?” Amazing, no? Was Joseph Ratzinger fully human as Cardinal? Is he now as ex-Pope? The papal mythology never quits, it seems.

In the interview, Bertone said his relationship with Pope Francis was very positive. Regarding Bertone’s lavish — and widely criticized — retirement complex: a 2500-square-foot luxury apartment with a view of the city, Bertone reportedly stated “When this apartment was first criticized, he [Pope Francis] called me up and said, ‘Look, I do not have anything against you going to live on the third floor of Palazzo San Carlo.’ ” Francis, according to Bertone, even went further: “The pope [Francis] was informed about everything, even the small secretary’s office. He [Francis] said to me, ‘It’s perfectly fine and you are entitled to it, seeing as you need to write your memoirs, given you have been witness to three papacies… ‘ ” (emphasis mine) .

Perhaps Pope Francis thought Bertone would be “grazing sheep” on his infamous terrace, to get their smell? Really! What a double standard, no?

According to Bertone’s carefully chosen words in the interview, “The terrace, which has views across Rome, is intended for everyone”.

Intended for everyone, perhaps, but who actually uses it? Somehow, I have trouble visualizing the ex-pope’s butler’s children hanging out on His Eminence, Bertone’s terrace. Can you?

Francis should ask Bertone to share his apartment with the recently “resurrected” Bishop of Bling, who could then park his motorcycles on Bertone’s terrace, no? What hypocrisy?

The Cardinal denied mishandling funds during his leadership of the Vatican Bank, presumably including recent allegations that he mishandled millions of dollars through the Bank.

Bertone in the interview said he acted in line with the committee that oversaw the bank and was not a “puppeteer or despot”. Every decision he made, he said, was “in accordance with the Holy Father”, he reportedly said. What does the non-excuse, “I was only following orders” remind you of? If he were following the ex-pope’s orders, we can safely conclude that at least papal financial decisions are not “infallible”. (emphasis mine).

For the “mythical premises” underlying Bertone’s revisionism, please see my “Five Crucial Myths Pope Francis Preaches: Why?” here, [Christian Catholicism]. For the overall negative implications of, and fatal flaws in, Pope Francis’ continuing protection and rewarding of men like Bertone and the ex-Pope, notwithstanding the papal mythology that seeks to obfuscate what is really happening, please see my “The Crisis Pope Francis Faces” here, [Christian Catholicism] .