Francisco promoted one Sinodality based on the Active participation of the laity, together with the clergy and the people enshrined in the organization of the evangelizing mission, which is a central issue regarding the planning of the church’s work.
The German conservative cardinal Gerhard Müller I had assured that “The synod of the bishops with an assembly that discusses the problems should not be confused. Now we have an institutional confusion. “
Another of the doctrinal disputes that Prevost must face, and of which it has already been expressed in the past, is lA Women’s Managementsomething that has been taboo for centuries.
In October 2023, when he was Cardinal, the new Pontiff said that “clericize women “ I would not solve problems in the Catholic Church, but even “could create a new problem.”
In addition, the American said that although a woman can be president or perform various leadership roles in the world, there is no immediate parallel to say: “In the Church, therefore …”.
“It is not as simple as saying: ‘You know, at this stage we will change the tradition of the Church after 2000 years in any of those points'”said.
In turn, he said that women are continuously assuming new leadership roles both in the Vatican and in other parts of the Church and gave as an example the appointment by Bergoglio to the Sister Simona Brambilla like sECRETARY OF THE VATICAN DICASTERY FOR THE INSTRACTS OF CONSECRATED LIFE AND THE COMPANIES OF APOSTOLICAL LIFE.
In addition, Francisco allowed at the end of 2023 that Priests bless same -sex couplesdiscerning case by case. These decisions generated a strong rejection of the conservative sectors.
Prevost, meanwhile, although he expressed his reservations regarding “beliefs and practices that contradict the gospel”, he was not very clear about The supplicans fiducia. In addition, he emphasized the need for Let the national episcopal conferences have doctrinal authority to interpret and apply these directives in their local contexts, given cultural differences.
Vatican’s finances
The Vatican goes through a while ago A strong financial crisiswhich has been one of Francisco’s main challenges, and will be for Leo XIV.
That is why the American origin could be a key in that sense, although the percentage of the global assets of the Catholic Church that come from the United States is difficult to determine, since Church finances are not data made public.
Nevertheless, The United States constitutes an important source of income due to donations and the value of real estate and investments in the country.
Just three days before his last hospitalization in February, Francisco had ordered the creation of a new high -level commission to stimulate donations to the Vatican, to face the budget deficit and increasing liabilities for your pension fund.
Although since 2022 the Holy See has not published a complete budget report, in mid -2024, the last set of accounts, which They included a 94 million dollar deficitaccording to Reuters information.
In addition, the Vatican Finance Tsar estimated that The pension fund deficit would amount to about 631 million euros in 2022. And while there has been no update, Sources believe he has shot.
The Jesuit and commentator priest, Reverend Thomas Reese, who has written about the Vatican’s finances, had advanced that These budgetary problems could have a “tremendous impact” who would choose as a new Pope.
“They will have to choose someone who is a good fund collector, more than a shepherd”Reese predicted.
Church and pedophilia
Pope Francis took measures to fight pedophilia in the Church, such as The lifting of the Pontifical Secret, the obligation to point out the cases to the hierarchy, and listening platforms, Victims associations were disappointed by the action of Pope Francis.
In 2008, when the Holy Father was Benedict XVI, The cardinal CLAUDIO HUMMES, Then head of the congregation for the Vatican clergy, defined the scandal as “exceptionally serious ” And he assured that it was caused by “No more than 1%” of the 400,000 Catholic priests who were then in the world.
This issue continues on the agenda, and continues to be one of the greatest challenges for the Church. Prevost has not escaped these scandals in his time as archbishop in Perusomething that was fervently denied by his diocese.
The number of Catholics worldwide
The Catholic Church in recent years experienced an increase in the number of baptized, since At the end of 2023 there were 1405 million Catholics worldwide1.15 % more than the 1389 million late 2022.
The largest number of Catholics is found In America, with 64.2% of the population baptized in North and South America. It is followed by Europe with 39.6% and Oceania with 25.9%.
The children’s baptism rate, which It is a key indicator of faith growth, It is usually higher in developing countries.
This rate, for every 1000 Catholics, has its highest numbers in Samoa American (71,2), Several islands of Oceania (37.7 compared to 21.8), Burundi (23,6), Cambodia (22,3), Eastern Timor (20,3) and Myanmar (20,1).
On the other hand, in Europe they are experiencing descents in these indices. The German Episcopal Conference reported earlier this year that 321,000 German Catholics apostated from their baptism in 2024 through a written statement.
Germany had a few years ago With around 40 million Catholicsa number that today is lower than 20 million.
The decline in the number of priests
Prevost inherited from Pope Francis a church of 1400 million faithful whose geographical distribution is unequal, since While in the southern hemisphere is in full expansion, it falls continuously in Europe.
This is reflected in the number of priests, which in 2023 were 406,996 worldwide, 0.2% less than in 2022. It is a statistic that increases in Africa and Asia, but goes down elsewhere.
Pope Francis poses with dozens of seminarians from San Martín de Tours, in Philadelphia. The American Catholic Church has been affected by a huge scandal of sexual abuse by priests.
The seven international issues
The world globally is affected by great conflicts between nations, and the Pope is also a head of state and a moral authority whose voice has a specific weight.
In his first speech, Leo XIV emphasized the urgency of peace. “An unarmed, humble and persevering peace comes from God”he recalled.
This is something that Francisco has also made, especially in the seven main international issues that affect the world: The war in Ukraine, in the Middle East, the neoliberal and populist boom, the United States, China, migrations, ecological urgency and the development of artificial intelligence.
Bergoglio sayings They have caused irritation in Israel, Ukraine, Russia and the United States for being considered many times as abrupt and without foundation.
Pope’s room
During his papacy, Francisco has tried to break with some of the usual codes of a pontiff. For example, he did not accept pontifical apartments to move on the sober the Santa Marta residence and in changing during the 12 years of papacy The room 201. There I had only A bed with a square with a crucifix on the wall, simple light table and a desk.
FRANCISCO 2.JPEG
In this regard, Cardinal Müller said: “In the apostolic palace there is a room for potatoes. Everyone expects these things to normalize a little. “
Source: Ambito
