As Death Approaches Reality, More Sincere About the Legacy to Leave in Catholicism
Pope Francis celebrated his 87th birthday on the 17th (local time), amid observations that his health deterioration due to old age has made him more passionate about Catholic reform.
Pope Francis celebrated his 87th birthday with families supported by the Vatican welfare organization. [Photo by AP]
According to AP, dpa news agencies, Pope Francis held a birthday celebration with families supported by the Vatican welfare organization. This has been a tradition continued every year since his papal inauguration in 2013. When the Pope stood in front of the Apostolic Palace window for the noon Angelus prayer, about 22,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square displayed banners to celebrate his birthday.
Foreign media noted that Pope Francis marked his 87th birthday amid health issues related to old age and a final all-out effort for church reform.
Pope Francis missed major events twice this year due to respiratory illnesses. In April, he was hospitalized for three days with acute bronchitis and missed the Good Friday Way of the Cross event held at the Colosseum.
This month, his bronchitis worsened again, preventing him from attending the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the Climate Change Convention held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). In June, he was hospitalized for nine days due to an abdominal hernia.
Pope Francis is reportedly feeling regret over not being able to carry out papal activities more actively due to his unstable health. Unlike 2,000 years ago when the pope guarded the throne inside the palace, he is known to believe that the pope today has the duty to travel worldwide to spread the gospel and doctrine.
Accordingly, some speculate that Pope Francis might step down during his lifetime if he cannot overcome old age. Among the previous 265 popes, only seven were older than Pope Francis at the time of their death.
Former Pope Benedict XVI set a modern precedent by resigning due to health and personal issues related to old age and living in seclusion. Pope Francis once said he would resign if his health failed. However, he recently seemed to have changed his mind and reiterated that the papacy is a lifelong position.
As his term as pope shortens due to old age, Pope Francis is putting greater effort into church reform reflecting his faith. This is interpreted as him beginning to actively manage the legacy he wants to leave for the future of Catholicism as a progressive pope.
Pope Francis is striving to make Catholicism more inclusive and to respect the voices of the laity. Through the bishops' conferences he presides over, he completed the first phase of reform to allow women to participate in church decision-making and is pushing forward with the next phase.
David Gibson, director of the Center for Religious Culture at Potsdam University in Germany, said, "The top-down nature entrenched in Catholic administration is Pope Francis's main reform challenge," and added, "Because the transition period is confusing and very difficult, whether the reform will succeed remains to be seen."
To accelerate reform, Pope Francis unusually appointed the progressive theologian Cardinal V?ctor Fern?ndez as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Cardinal Fern?ndez, who oversees Catholic doctrine, expanded inclusivity by allowing transgender individuals to serve as godparents at baptism.
Additionally, Pope Francis is wielding authority against corrupt or excessively conservative clergy.
Giovanni Angelo Becciu, once the second-in-command at the Vatican and indicted in a real estate scandal, was sentenced to prison by the Vatican court. Archbishop Georg G?nswein, former secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, was expelled to his native Germany after criticizing Pope Francis. Bishop Joseph Strickland of the Diocese of Austin, Texas, who supported former U.S. President Donald Trump and incited the 2021 Capitol riot, was removed from office.
Natalia Imperatori-Lee, professor of religious studies at Manhattan College in the U.S., analyzed, "It seems Pope Francis thinks about his legacy differently than before," adding, "Perhaps due to his recent illnesses, he has become more aware that his death could become a reality."
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