ROME – Pope Francis has been in the hospital for the longest stay of his papacy, more than two weeks now. And while the latest updates from the Vatican report a slow and steady improvement from his severe bronchitis and double pneumonia, it hasn’t stopped the Vaticanista rumor mill from speculating about his possible resignation.
But papal historian, author and biographer Austen Ivereigh is dispelling those rumors, saying that despite the secret letter of resignation he wrote at the beginning of his election as bishop of Rome, Pope Francis believes the papacy is for life.
“He’s spoken various times about this,” Ivereigh told Fox News in an interview. “He’s saying that for him, the papacy is for life.”
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“It’s really important in a world where there’s a kind of cult of health and youth,” added Ivereigh, “that we say, ‘No, there is a mission that God gives you, which is for life.’”
Millions of faithful all over the world have been praying for the 88-year-old pontiff’s healing and recovery.
Pope Francis (Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty)
Here in St. Peter’s Square, a nightly rosary vigil, led by one of the cardinals of the curia, is keeping the fires of faith lit that Francis will recover.
Ivereigh is the author of “The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope” and other books. He believes Pope Francis will recover, perhaps more frail, but still a vibrant spiritual leader.
“There’s an anxiety. There’s a sense of uncertainty.”
Yet Ivereigh admitted, “There’s an anxiety. There’s a sense of uncertainty.”
History has helped provide that anxiety and uncertainty. Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, resigned in 2013, the first pontiff to do so in more than 500 years.
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But then there are those who may wish he would resign.
Even still, there are those who are circling the wagons knowing it’s only a matter of time until cardinals convene in Rome to elect a successor to St. Peter.
Bishop Joseph Strickland, a vocal critic of Pope Francis, wrote an open letter to the College of Cardinals urging them to choose wisely in the next conclave.
Pope Francis (Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP/Getty)
In 2018, Pope Francis removed Strickland from his post as bishop of the diocese of Tyler, Texas, after Strickland’s public criticisms of the pope.
In his letter to the cardinals, Strickland wrote, “As the conclave approaches, I feel bound in conscience to share my deep concern – which I know is shared by many bishops, clergy, and members of the lay faithful – that this conclave will attempt the election of a man ineligible to hold the office of pope.”
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He went on, “Your Eminences, I would also recall to your mind that you have a grave obligation before God to refuse to give assent to the election of any candidate who does not fulfill the conditions established by divine law.”
Pope Francis has not stopped working, although his frail condition requires that he move a bit slower.
Strickland concluded with thinly veiled accusations against Francis, whom his critics claim does not always hold to the theological truths of the faith.
Wrote Strickland, “If a public heretic, or a man who is reasonably suspected of being a public heretic, receives sufficient votes, faithful cardinals have an obligation to refuse to accept the validity of his election.”
But Ivereigh says Francis is a man who’s more like Jesus, that he has an ability to hold in tension the truths of the faith together with the unconditional love required of all those made in God’s image.
Said Ivereigh, “He proclaims the truth, and at the same time he heals and loves. And in fact, the truth that he proclaims is a healing truth and the healing that he does — it communicates the truth of who God is.”
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In his 12 years as bishop of Rome, Pope Francis has continued to mold the Catholic Church in ways that are very different from those of his predecessors.
First, he worked to clean up the mess in the Vatican Bank, and he expanded the College of Cardinals, creating cardinals in faraway places that had never had the high position before, such as in San Diego.
Pope Francis (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
He also elevated a woman to one of the highest-ranking positions in the Vatican: Sister Raffaella Petrini, the new president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and president of the Governorate of Vatican City State.
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From his 10th floor suite at Gemelli Hospital, Francis continues to run the business of the Vatican. He has not stopped working, although his frail condition requires that he move a bit slower.
From working with the pope on projects, Ivereigh knows the Holy Father is a workaholic. And he believes this current health crisis will be resolved in a positive way.
“I think the immediate future is all about him coming out of the hospital, getting back to his residence in Santa Marta for what everybody expects will be a long convalescence,” Ivereigh said. “The doctors, I think, are pretty clear about that.”
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