by Anura Guruge
on April 13, 204
The only person that could convince me that Francis is SMARTER than Benedict XVI is ‘Georg Gänswein‘ — who directly served BOTH popes.
To be fair I don’t think Francis, old & feeble, had much to do with this. He, like ‘Biden’, seems awfully confused & disoriented much of the time.
That the title is ONLY included in the ‘Annuario Pontifico‘ (Pontifical Yearbook) list of ‘Historic Titles‘ gives me heart.
Yes, we can’t deny that ‘Patriarch of the West’ is indeed an ‘historic title’. That might be what this is all about. Just keeping the facts right.
But, Benedict XVI relinquished the title for a reason — later CODIFIED by the Vatican.
This is just a unnecessary distraction. I am not going to bother saying much beyond this. It is an historic title. I can live with that.
I agree here: not sure why Francis would want to “resume” an anachronistic (and, truth be told, geographically-inept) title like this.
Speculation:
1. Maybe Francis (and/or his minions) thinks this is a way to “throw the traditionalists a bone” by bringing up something–though meaningless–from the 7th Century, when the West vs. East distinction made more sense but was discarded post-Vat2 (though not until B16’s pontificate).
2. Or, as seems more likely, they want to stick another finger in the eye of his late predecessor by overturning yet another of B16’s decisions. This despite Francis’ own claims of how much he respected B16….
Mark,
I think both your points are valid. I also, however, as I did point out in the post think that this might all be rather innocuous. As HISTORIANS neither of us can deny that the title is HISTORIC. And it appears UNDER that: ‘Historic Titles’. Yes, a RATHER ODD TIME, this late in the pontificate, to have it added to A.P. But, again we can’t DENY that it is both semantically & technically CORRECT, indeed an historic title. From what I see he still is only using ‘BofR’ — without appreciating the SUPREME irony & contradiction. As BofR what jurisdiction does he have to create cardinals outside of Rome. SMILE. YOUR COMMENTS, please.
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I also think that Francis had NO IDEA about this. Probably done between an A.P. editor & the Press Office on the grounds that it is an HISTORIC TITLE and should be listed with the others discarded by F.
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Mark, given your encyclopedic knowledge of papal history PLEASE help me out. Are there other (long discarded) titles?
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No comments on my Ganswein post? SMILE. John Allen this morning is speculating Latvia. I think it will be even more remote.
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Read about the Ouellet French fax pas! YIKES. That, alas, was the last straw. I have to scratch him from my TOP 10. Damn. Not happy.
*****
Who should I replace him with: Another Canadian or Brit? Please ….
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I am, however, getting more and more FIXATED with Wilton. SMILE. Come on. Humor me. You should be HAPPY. You have probably MET him. I think he will make a GOOD pope. SMILE.
Thanks. Anura
I welcome an example of the possibility of restoring abandoned traditionalisms…not that I expect Francis to build on this.
If he starts wearing a triregno,let me know…
Yeh, Louis! I’m holding out for the Sedia Gestatoria to make a comeback myself! 🙂 Even JP1 used it.
Anura, for a list of papal titles (discarded ones at the end) see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_titles
Like you, I am pretty sure Francis had little or nothing to do with the title’s “resumption.” The proffered reason was to show respect for the Orthodox churches, but I’m thinking that was actually the reason why it was discarded in the first place! But in any case, it’s really a meaningless anachronism nowadays. I see no particular harm in resuming it, just as I saw no particular harm in discarding it in 2007. But why bother at all?
Nah, I had no comment on the Ganswein reposting. I mean, the usual promotion-as-punishment would be to post him to a far backwater with a tiny Catholic population “to keep him out of trouble”. Kind of like what the US Army did when posting some high-ranking nincompoop to Nome, Alaska during the (first) Cold War.
I mean, Lutheran/Orthodox and/or atheist Latvia is at least in Europe, in NATO, and potentially the next ex-Soviet territory Putin would have his eyes on–it’s basically about 50% ethnic Russian, making it a prime target for the next Anschluss…and that would make whatever happens there of international importance.
Given all that, I think if Ganswein gets that posting, he’ll be lucky.
Quick reply. More later. THANKS. I know of the ones in Wikipedia. But I am sure there were others between 5th c. & 9th c. I thought you might know.
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NOTHING about Ouellet? No longer a papbile.
Thanks.
I never thought Ouellet had a chance anyway, but whatever miniscule chance he may have had, I agree that’s gone now.
Wilton Gregory in DC. I thought he was an effective speaker a few years ago during his term leading the USCCB while Abp. of Atlanta. But he’s proved to be little more than a Francis flunky on DC, as shown by his draconian application of Traditiones Custodes in 2022. And he’s an American. So no, he’s not a papabile.
I did a triple check, including again scouring YouTube, to make sure you were 100% right re. JPI and Sedia Gestatoria. YES, I know he was carried aloft 4 times. That is in my book. Wasn’t sure whether it was in a SG, a 8-person sediola or a modified, highbacked chair. But, there is at least one video where he does appear to be in the Pius XII SD WITH ostrich featers.
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I can see that there is no way you will change your mind re. a U.S. pope. Shame.
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I had checked Wilton’s response to TC. He was being politic. I think he is a centralist.
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Any non-U.S. names for ME, please.
Thanks. Cheers, Anura