Pope Francis’s efforts to build a new way of “being Church” are facing increased opposition from within the Roman Curia, a leading cardinal says.
Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga said this during an address to Franciscan provincials in Florida, according to the National Catholic Reporter.
The cardinal said Pope Francis is seeking to build a “new way of being church”, as St Francis of Assisi did in the 13th century after God commanded him to repair his church.
However, Cardinal Rodríguez said, while Francis is popular among people around the world, he is facing opposition in the Roman Curia.
“We have to be prepared, since this beautiful but strange popularity is beginning to strengthen adherences, but equally to awaken deaf opposition not only in the old Curia, but in some who are sorry to lose privileges in treatment and in comforts,” Cardinal Rodríguez said.
“Expressions like ‘What can it be that this little Argentine pretends?’, or the expression of a well-known cardinal who let slip the phrase, ‘We made a mistake,’ can be heard,” the cardinal added.
This was an apparent reference to a cardinal who regrets electing Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope last year.
Cardinal Rodriguez heads the council of cardinals (C8) appointed to advise Pope Francis.
He told the Franciscans that St Francis of Assisi “caused great scandal” from church leaders who wanted “to maintain their privileges” in the 13th century.
Saying the Pope is creating “a new way of being church” Cardinal Rodríguez said Pope Francis “feels called to construct” a Church that is, among other things.
- “At the service of this world by being faithful to Christ and his Gospel”;
- “Free from all mundane spirituality”;
- “Free from the risk of being concerned about itself, of becoming middle-class, of closing in on self, of being a clerical Church”;
- Able to “offer itself as an open space in which all of us can meet and recognise each other because there is space for dialogue, diversity and welcome in it”;
- A Church that pays “just attention and gives importance to women in both society and its own institutions”.
Sources