Francis, the Party Pope: all style, no substance

Len and Walt are both traditional Catholics, appalled by the changes to the liturgy and indeed the Faith of the Church made in the wake of Vatican II -- "the best council the Protestants ever had".

We are more than a little disappointed in the pontificate of Pope Francis. It seemed to start with such promise. For instance, we were encouraged when, in April, the Holy Father asked the bishops of Portugal to consecrate his papacy to Our Lady of Fatima. See "Pope Francis to move on the Third Secret of Fatima?"

Even then, we were turning our eyes away from the "humbler-than-thou" nonsense, such as giving up the papal apartment in the Vatican, refusing the three-tiered crown, and generally proclaiming his humility and unworthiness (or unfitness?) to be the Vicar of Christ. See Walt's little April Fool "'I am not worthy...': Pope Francis resigns".

But we can no longer ignore the accomplisments of the Holy Father since his election. They amount to... wait for it... Nothing! Nada! Rien.

An article in last week's Economist said that his papacy is more about style than substance, but the fact is, there is no substance. Yes, the emperor does have new clothes -- as we see in this picture -- but underneath, he is all talk and no action.

Let's examine what Pope Francis has done... or not done... about the serious problems besetting the mainstream Roman Catholic Church today.

The most serious problem is the scandal and shame of paedophile and homosexual priests. Benedict XVI at least acknowledged the problem. But what does Pope Francis say? "Who am I to judge?" Click here to read Walt's answer!

Then there's the Vatican Bank. For years now, it had been turned into a money-laudering operation for the benefit of certain prelates and, yes, the Mafia. The Bank of Italy, frustrated with Benedict's failure to clean it up, went so far as to refuse to process bank-card transactions at Vatican ATM machines.

So what has Pope Francis done? He told the international press in July that he has turned over the bank to "trusted" advisors, Monsignori the Church. One of them, Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, was promptly arrested for financial fraud. Another, Monsignor Battista Ricca, was outed by Sandro Magister and L'Espresso, as a flaming homosexual, who regularly used the services of underage boy prostitutes and went so far as to bring his favourite rent-boy with him to the Apostolic Nunciature in Uruguay.

Now it is reported that the Holy Father's vaunted reform of the Curia, mandated by the College of Cardinals, has turned out to be too difficult for him. Francis himself said he was "too disorganized" and was being thwarted by "lobbies", including the notorious gay lobby within the Vatican. He tried to foist the problem onto a council of eight cardinals, but they won't even meet until this coming October.

Many of the other cardinals are getting restless. Cardinal Dolan (doubtless still miffed that he wasn't seriously considered for the position) has been grumbling publicly about the Pope's slowness to deal with the likes of Cardinal Bertone (still the Secretary of State), and Gerhard Muller, Benedict's Prefect of Doctrine, largely responsible for the rupture in negotiations with the Society of St. Pius X.

In the latest post on his Chiesa blog, Sandro Magister says Pope Francis is carefully avoiding reliance on old veterans of the Roman Curia, as he weighs his options for reforms at the Vatican. The Secretariat of State, traditionally the major power at the Vatican, has lost some influence to the small circle of the Pope's trusted staff -- most importantly his secretary, Father Fabian Pedacchio Leaniz. But Francis makes all important decisions himself.

The papacy of Pope Francis is not off to a good start. Good Catholics, please pray every day for the Holy Father, and that the True Faith will be preserved in spite of the failings of the leaders of Holy Mother Church.