Aboard The Papal Plane | Pope Francis accused some of his critics Sunday of taking advantage of Pope Benedict XVI's death to score ideological points in the latest salvo in the partisan divide of the Catholic Church.
During an airborne news conference returning from South Sudan, Francis was asked about the criticism that accelerated after the Dec. 31 death of Benedict, who lived in the Vatican as an emeritus pope alongside Francis for the first 10 years of his pontificate.
In the days and weeks after his death, Benedict's longtime secretary and some conservative cardinals came out with books, interviews and memos criticising Francis' papacy. The commentary had the effect of pitting the recently departed former pope, who remained a point of reference for conservatives and traditionalists, against the current pope.
Francis insisted that rumours of differences with Benedict, or that Benedict was bitter about some decisions he had taken, were false and that the two consulted frequently and were in agreement.
“I think Benedict's death was instrumentalised," Francis said. “People wanted to score points for their own side. And the people who instrumentalise such a good person, so close to God, I would almost say ... those people don't have ethics, they are people who belong to a party, not to the church.” To drive home the point that Benedict was above such partisanship, Francis recalled how the emeritus pope handled a complaint that he had received against Francis over his support for legal protections for same-sex partnerships.
When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio supported Argentine legislation that would allow people in stable relationships, including same-sex unions, to enjoy inheritance and other rights. He backed such legislation as an alternative to Argentine proposals to legalise gay marriage, which the Catholic Church opposes.
Bergoglio's position was known at the time but he articulated it publicly during a 2019 interview with Mexican broadcaster Televisa.
Francis revealed Sunday that someone who fancied himself “a great theologian” had filed a complaint with Benedict about Francis' position but that the emeritus pope “didn't get scared.” “He called four top-notch cardinal theologians and said, Explain this to me.'” “They explained it to him, and that's how the story ended,” Francis said. “It's an anecdote to show how Pope Benedict moved when there was a complaint.”
Aboard The Papal Plane | Pope Francis said Sunday he is planning to visit India next year and is studying a possible trip to Mongolia later in 2023 in what would be a first for a pope.
Francis outlined his upcoming travel schedule during his flight back to Rome from South Sudan.
He confirmed that he would be in Lisbon, Portugal for World Youth Day the first week of August and would participate in a Sept. 23 meeting of Mediterranean bishops in Marseille, France.
He said there was “the possibility” that he would fly from Marseille to Mongolia, which would be a first for a pope.
Looking further ahead, Francis said he thought he would visit India in 2024, after plans for a trip in 2017 fell apart.
Francis spoke to reporters after a six-day visit to Congo and South Sudan, where he was joined in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Rt. Rev. Iain Greenshields.
The Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian leaders made a novel joint visit to push South Sudan's political leaders to make progress on implementing a stalled 2018 peace accord that ended a civil war following the country's 2011 independence from Sudan.
Welby and Greenshields joined Francis aboard the papal plane back and took part in his airborne news conference, during which they were asked if they would be willing to join Francis on future trips too.
Welby said he would be “delighted to” if it might be helpful, joking that the papal plane was “the best airline I've ever flown on.” Greenshields also was keen but noted his mandate ends in May.
In a nod to the nearly all-male Vatican delegation that accompanies Francis on his foreign trips, Greenshields pointed out that he would be replaced by “a very capable woman” as moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Rev. Sally Foster-Fulton, an American. The Church of Scotland has had ordained female ministers since the 1960s.
“She would be delighted to do the same thing,” he said.
The Vatican delegation, made up mostly of cardinals and bishops, traditionally only includes one woman: a protocol expert in the Vatican secretariat of state. On this trip, Francis also invited as his personal guest a Congolese nun.