- Title: Pope Francis to continue efforts to form a synodal church, analyst says
- Date: 31st December 2022
- Summary: ROME, ITALY (DECEMBER 31, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VATICAN CORRESPONDENT FOR THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC REVIEW, GERARD O'CONNELL, WORKING AT PRESS CENTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) VATICAN CORRESPONDENT FOR THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC REVIEW, GERARD O'CONNELL, SAYING: "Benedict made history. He made history by resigning and so opening the door for the possibility of other popes to follow him in the same way by resigning when they felt their health or their mental ability is no longer up to the job." CAMERAMEN FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (English) VATICAN CORRESPONDENT FOR THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC REVIEW, GERARD O'CONNELL, SAYING: "Pope Francis is a free man. He has been from the beginning and I don't think he will change. He will continue on the path that he is ploughing as it were, and he is meeting some opposition and some who supported Benedict were opposed to Francis in terms of what he is doing. But he is trying to make a synodal church, a church where everybody has a role to play, everybody has a part to play, and he's inviting people to play their role." VATICAN CORRESPONDENT FOR 'CRUX' NEWSPAPER, ELISE ANN HARRIS, WORKING AT PRESS CENTER SCREEN WITH SIGN OF PRESS CENTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) VATICAN CORRESPONDENT FOR 'CRUX' NEWSPAPER, ELISE ANN HARRIS, SAYING: "And so there were always two popes from the moment that I arrived. So things now are going to be a little different. I mean, for one, there will be less work at that level. But the church itself is missing somebody who had an enormous presence, whose contribution was huge, not only because of his resignation, but because of many of the things that he did while he was in office, but also the sign that his resignation sent to the world about what kind of man he was. I think that's something that the world is going to miss now and that the church is going to miss, the example of humility and simplicity that he set from the beginning." VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS AT PRESS CENTER VATICAN CITY (DECEMBER 31, 2022) (REUTERS) TOP SHOT OF ST. PETER'S SQUARE VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS REPORTING THE DEATH OF FORMER POPE BENEDICT
- Embargoed: 14th January 2023 14:05
- Keywords: Benedict Former pope analysis
- Location: ROME, ITALY / VATICAN CITY
- City: ROME, ITALY / VATICAN CITY
- Country: Vatican City
- Topics: Europe,Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001970831122022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Pope Francis will continue on the path of forging a synodal church where everybody has a role to play, a senior Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Review said on Saturday (December 31).
"Pope Francis is a free man. He has been from the beginning and I don't think he will change. He will continue on the path that he is ploughing," Gerard O'Connell said, adding that former Pope Benedict made history by resigning.
Former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday aged 95, was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign, leaving behind a Catholic Church battered by sexual abuse scandals, mired in mismanagement and polarized between conservatives and progressives.
Benedict, the first German pope in 1,000 years, had good relations with his successor, Pope Francis, but his continued presence inside the Vatican after he stepped down in 2013 further polarized the Church ideologically.
Conservatives alarmed by Francis' progressive moves looked to Benedict as the guardian of tradition.
Several times he had to tell nostalgic admirers via visitors: "There is one pope, and it is Francis."
"The church itself is missing somebody who had an enormous presence, whose contribution was huge, not only because of his resignation, but because of many of the things that he did while he was in office," a Vatican correspondent for Crux newspaper, Elise Ann Harris said.
A piano-playing professor and formidable theologian, Benedict was by his own admission a weak leader who struggled to impose himself on the opaque Vatican bureaucracy and stumbled from crisis to crisis during his eight-year reign.
(Production: Jamie Lopez Lopez, Fabiano Franchitti) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None