by Anura Guruge
on September 6, 2022

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Pope’s are NOT allowed to — though obviously they are a law onto themselves (not answerable to any earthly authority) — signify their preference as to who they would like to see as their successor. And to be fair, Francis is NOT doing that. He is not signaling WHO he would like to see elected as the Next Pope.

What he is however doing, cutely & cleverly is BLATANTLY advocating what type of successor he is rooting for — i.e., a pope that will carry on his recent zeal for doubling down on most of the ‘Vatican II‘ reforms (e.g., curtailing the ‘old’ Latin Mass‘).

‘John XXIII‘, the Good Pope, is, of course, best known for convoking & opening Vatican II.

So, anyone who takes the name ‘John’ would, one has to assume, be a fan of John XXIII & thus also his greatest achievement, Vatican II.

You can’t blame Francis. It is reasonable for a pope to wish that his successor will continue his work & Francis of late has been obsessed by Vatican II.

John XXIII, of course (as it should have been), lucked out. His successor, Paul VI, was as committed to Vatican II as he had been, if not more so. Paul VI was elected, by a conclave that was very partial to the deceased pope, because of his commitment to Vatican II.

So now with his John XXIV ‘jokes’ this is the message that Francis is sending: ‘I want the next pope to be one who, like me, is a true devotee of the Vatican II reforms’.