UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture
By Phil Lawler | Nov 05, 2014
“Does Pope Francis have an enemies list?” That’s the eye-catching headline on John Allen’s column for the Crux site. Allen notes that three bishops have recently placed under scrutiny by the Vatican: Bishops Rogelio Livieres Plano in Paraguay, Mario Oliveri in Italy, and Robert Finn in Kansas City. (He might have added Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, who was denounced as the “bishop of bling” and hurried into resignation in Germany.) Is it a coincidence that the bishops who are under the gun are all distinctly conservative?
Add the disciplinary crackdown on the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, and the unmistakable loss of influence by two prominent prelates in the Roman Curia (Cardinals Mauro Piacenza and Raymond Burke), and an overall trend seems clear.
There are two logical explanations for this trend, Allen remarks. One is that the Vatican under Pope Francis is conducting a sort of purge of conservative bishops. The other is that the Pope is determined to carry out a program of reform, and “is responding to reported breakdowns as they occur without really paying attention to the politics of the people involved.” But if it’s the latter, Allen writes, the Holy Father might want to explain, and in the process reassure conservatives who now feel nervous about the Pope’s intentions.
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