Pope Francis: The Strategy for the Aftermath

Except for the prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, , there was not a single cardinal elector or even anyone with any particularly hefty role in the Vatican among the papal stand-ins during Holy Week.

When popes are ill or otherwise indisposed, standard practice in Holy Week and at Easter is to entrust specific liturgical acts to cardinals with some official connection to the celebration.

By this logic, the Chrism Mass of Holy Thursday, during which the Chrism oil that the diocese will use during the celebration is blessed, should be entrusted to the Pope’s Vicar for the Diocese of Rome. The liturgy of Good Friday to the Major Penitentiary. The Masses of Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday should be entrusted to the Cardinal Secretary of State. And the reading of the Urbi et Orbi to the Dean of the College of Cardinals.

Pope Francis, however, gave Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, vicar for the Diocese of Rome, the task of leading the traditional Via Crucis at the Colosseum. And yet the penitential liturgy of Good Friday is entrusted to Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches. The link is that Good Friday is also the day of the Collection for the Holy Land, which depends on the Dicastery. But it is a tenuous link. And it seems that the Pope’s master of ceremonies had already assigned Cardinal Angelo de Donatis, the major penitentiary, only to change his mind at the last minute.

For the Chrism Mass, Pope Francis called Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, retired and practically invisible for at least five years, who in his past has held the role of president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (the Vatican’s “central bank”) but has no duties that are ultimately linked to the blessing of the sacred oils.

For the Easter Vigil Mass, Pope Francis chose Cardinal Giovan Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.

Finally, for the Easter Mass,Pope Francis called back into service none other than Cardinal Angelo Comastri, Archpriest Emeritus of St. Peter’s Basilica. His homilies and Masses were highly appreciated during the Covid period, and it was said that it was precisely this that convinced the Pope to proceed quickly with the succession, giving the task to Cardinal Gambetti.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, was conspicuously absent from the list of celebrations. This seems like a sign of great importance.

Parolin is often mentioned when there is talk of a succession to Pope Francis. It is not necessarily that the cardinals, once they enter the conclave, want to vote for Parolin. But Parolin is the type of person they are looking for: a normalizer, a person who does not carry out sensational purges, who moderately continues on Francis’s path while keeping the bar of doctrine straight.

As a counter-indication, it is said that Parolin would not act forcefully to correct some of the limits of the pontificate, particularly on the juridical level. And, among other things, the fact that Parolin agreed to follow the Pope’s line even when he was not (or did not seem to be) completely in agreement with the Holy Father – for example, by constituting himself as a civil party in the Becciu trial, or by accepting the agreement with China on the appointment of bishops despite its limits – is not seen as a point in his favor.

During Pope Francis’ recent lengthy hospitalization, however, Parolin emerged as a reference figure. He was the only one to see the Pope—together with the substitute, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra. He also released statements on the dossiers that would be submitted to the Pope, and he brought about a reform of the Ecclesiastical Academy—the school of Vatican diplomats—which projects the institution among the university institutes and reestablishes it under the control of the Vatican Secretariat of State.

Pope Francis had prevented the Cardinals from nominating Parolin as Dean of the College of Cardinals by renewing the appointment of Cardinal Re when it expired. This went against the rules of the five-year mandate that he himself had promulgated and, in effect, prevented the cardinals from making a choice that would have been theirs.

After returning from convalescence, the Pope quickly resumed his scheduled meetings, at least the necessary ones – he met with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro to give the green light to some decrees on the causes of saints – he showed up around whenever he could, throwing doctors who wanted a protected convalescence into a panic. He began to get things back on track.

Now, Easter celebrations may seem marginal, but they have a very strong symbolic meaning. Pope Francis is not exempt from the fascination of symbols. Only, he either erases the previous symbols and uses new ones of his own fashioning, or else scrapes the old meaning away and overwrites, like a palimpsest.

Thus, just as happened with Benedict XVI’s funeral, when Pope Francis suddenly changed several of the previously agreed-upon things—refusing to go to pay his last respects to the Pope Emeritus in the Vatican grottoes, for example, but limiting himself to a blessing of the body at the end of the Mass—Pope Francis has also adjusted the list of cardinals for the Easter celebrations.

Some may think that the Pope sees Gugerotti as a candidate for the succession, but that is probably not the signal. Instead, the Pope wanted to reiterate that no one can maneuver for his succession and that he is always at the center of every decision.

Of course, one can doubt the Pope’s lucidity, considering the situation he has been subjected to. Many speculate that Pope Francis can no longer make all the decisions alone and is, therefore, manipulated. In some cases, this is probably true, as it was true even when the Pope was at the height of his strength.

However, these small signals should not be underestimated. They tell us that Pope Francis, deep down, also wants to be part of the discussion on his succession. Or, more generally, that he wants to short-circuit any discussion of the matter. However, the Pope does not want to stay out of the games. He is going out, showing up, and making his way to the public. He is mostly invisible, but he tries to be as visible as he can.