The view from the pew

The view from the pew
By: Greg Maresca
 
If there was one phrase to summarize the pontificate of Pope Francis it occurred early on in his tenure
when he told a group of young people in Paraguay, “Go out and make a mess.” 
 
The Church descended into exactly that.  
 
After Pope Benedict XVI died, The Babylon Bee’s headline proclaimed: “Francis officiates at funeral of
last Catholic Pope.”  The Bee’s satire always stings.
 
Francis’ pontificate went on to be a prolonged penance that presided over a plethora of church closings,
declining baptisms, confirmations, marriages, Mass attendance, and a precipitous drop in priestly
ordinations.
 
Moreover, it underscored the deep canyon of differences between the West and rest of the world, between
tradition and modernism, liberalism and conservatism.  Pope Francis loved the poor so much he wanted
not only to keep them poor, he wanted to make more.  
 
The Church stands at a crossroads and the upcoming conclave that commences on May 7 in Vatican City
that will substantiate a roadmap for the future.  The next pope will either steer the Barque of Peter back
on its salvific path or he will embrace modernism that Pope St. Pius X called “the synthesis of all
heresies” and navigate the Church deeper into Her Passion.
 
Of the Church’s 252 cardinals, 135 are under the age of 80 with Pope Francis having appointed 108 of the
eligible electors stacking the deck to lengthen his postmodern legacy.  
 
There are some in the conclave who want the Church to resemble them rather than Christ.  They are
immersed in the Marxist zeitgeist of postmodern relativism that has redefined morality as personal and
subjective, while admonishing those who defend biblical morality as intolerant and xenophobic. They
desire the Church to follow a worldly agenda of environmentalism, unrestricted migration, and agnostic
ecumenicism rather than conversion and the salvation of souls.
 
These men are indifferent to wherever modernism reigns, churches are increasingly empty; where
traditionalism is the norm, the churches are mostly thriving.  
 
For over 2,000 years the papacy endures as Christ said it would despite some rogues who held the Petrine
office that were more successors of Judas than St. Peter.
 
The choice is clear – orthodoxy and clarity or heterodoxy and confusion. 
 
Is it too much to ask that the pope is authentically Catholic?
 
Traditionalists must look toward Africa. African Cardinal Robert Sarah, a staunch defender of tradition
and the magisterium turns 80 in June.  Sarah’s age will work against him. Sarah is the episcopate version
of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
 
Longtime American Cardinal Raymond Burke who is a proponent of the Latin Mass and was unafraid to
question Pope Francis is another stellar candidate.  For his efforts, Burke was evicted from his Vatican
City apartment by Francis. Locally, Burke celebrated Mass at the former Carmelite Monastery in
Elysburg, Pennsylvania in August of 2019.  However, at 76 and being an American his chances are slim. 

 
Often, the pontiff does not typically come from what the pagan media endorses as “the favorites.”  While
the new pope will emerge from the College of Cardinals like it has since 1378, it is not a requirement. 
 
The papacy is akin to the Speaker House of Representatives: one does not need to be an elected member
of the House to serve as Speaker, nor does one have to be ordained through the sacrament of Holy Orders
to be pope.  
 
Church Canon Law states any male who is baptized and in good moral standing is eligible for the papacy. 
Provided he wasn’t 82 that devout cafeteria Catholic Joe Biden with his ardent support for abortion, gay
marriage and transgenderism could have been the “modernist sleeper” choice of this conclave given his
penchant for ballot manipulation blessings.  
 
When the new pontiff greets the faithful standing on the Central Balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican
City, many clerics that have faithfully served their flock for years would all be worthy. I am sure you
know plenty of them, too.
 
The Holy Spirit indeed works in mysterious ways and with the faithful clamoring at the gates of Heaven
through prayer and fasting – anything is possible.
 
The next pope needs to immerse his pontificate on matters of faith and not politics.
 
Pope Francis did indeed create a mess.
 
It will be up to the next pontiff to clean it up.