Some of you may have been following the scandal over the
Knights of Malta. While the catalyst for the scandal was somewhat absurd it
points to deeper tensions within the Vatican.
Francis is ostensibly trying to clean up the bureaucracy and
business dealings of the Holy See and while many are focused on some of his
statements regarding doctrine, the insiders are probably more concerned about
what his reforms mean for the Vatican's role in terms of power and global
finance.
The Knights of Malta is one of several organisations
affiliated with the Vatican that functions as something of a freemasonry.
Powerful, deeply connected to business and government, the knights along with
groups such as Opus Dei have links to the Deep State. These relationships were
established in the days following World War II and it is within these groups
that Western intelligence agencies do business with and infiltrate the Vatican.
It is here that we find the plots regarding corporate takeovers, money
laundering, the toppling of governments and other dark and clandestine deeds.
Francis is tangling with some very dangerous and powerful
people and it's clear they're not going to sit by and let him do it.
Doctrinally speaking there are different forces at work
within Rome. Some desperately want the Church to liberalise and believe this is
necessary for the organisation to stay viable in the 21st century.
Sharp declines in numbers and revenue have many worried.
Others know that Rome has other sources of income that have
little or nothing to do with donations. And some of these same forces sense
that a change is in the air. The West is getting ready to make a turn to the
Right and they want to hold on, stay the course and in a few years elect a very
different sort of pope, a Benedict with vitality, zeal and the public relations
skills required to navigate the ensuing choppy waters. The tensions and battles
that developed in the wake of Vatican II are coming to a head. Something has
got to give and the stakes are very high. Many fail to understand how powerful
the Vatican is, how much wealth is at stake and how integrated Rome is within
the larger Western Establishment.
I am not positing as some Fundamentalists are prone to do
that the Vatican runs the world. By no means. The Vatican plays a part and has
a role. It manipulates and is manipulated. Its power waxes and wanes.
Francis is old and to some degree compromised. It will be
interesting to watch his final years on the so-called throne of St. Peter.
I wonder if his age and his ambiguous record in Argentina under the Perons made him a good compromise candidate between the progressive factions and the conservatives. I wonder if the latter are hamstrung by cardinals from the "third-world" who are morally and theologically conservative, but lack the same zeal for a pro-western posture.
ReplyDeleteEven though it is shrouded in secrecy, I wish I could read about the drama and shadows of the Conclave.
Those wanting the church to liberalise are in a quandary. If it does that - e.g. if it renounces such dogmas as clerical celibacy or lifts the prohibition against homosexuality (as some people accuse Francis of doing), then it will expose itself as an institution that has no qualms about enacting or nullifying certain "sacred traditions" based on clerical consensus or cultural relevance. Their entire theology would be undermined and their credibility effectively destroyed.
ReplyDeleteShould that happen, there would likely be a massive schism followed by interminably long court battles over rightful legal claims to the church's assets.
That's why its unlikely that Francis will win against his detractors if he's really the raving moonbat leftist everyone thinks he is. That's where I find myself in disagreement. I think he's simply more diplomatic than his predecessors and has found new ways that resonate with a contemporary audience to communicate old ideas. If anything, the established church hierarchy desperately needs him for damage control, what with the continuing revelations of financial impropriety and child sexual abuse.