VATICAN CITY
Foreign Policy

BY PAOLO MASTROLILLI |FEBRUARY 26, 2013

The last time a pope resigned — Gregory XII in 1415 — it was to end a 40-year schism that threatened to tear the church in two. Today, the church faces a crisis that may be no less profound, and it has to do it with the entire world watching. (Gregory didn’t have to contend with the Twittersphere.) And while many things remain opaque in the secret and closeted Vatican, one thing we know for sure is that the church faces a fundamental divide that threatens its future far more than the scandals that are dominating front pages.

“This time is different, the crisis is much deeper and more difficult to solve than it appears,” an Italian bishop with long experience in the Curia laments. “Catholics are deeply divided between a group of conservatives, constantly looking toward the past…