“Among the marks of the current pontificate are its excessive reliance on the motu proprio as a tool for governance and a general carelessness and distaste for canonical detail,” Demos II observes.
“Again, as with ambiguity of doctrine, disregard for canon law and proper canonical procedure undermines confidence in the purity of the Church’s mission,” the author states, noting that “Canon law orders Church life, harmonizes its institutions and procedures, and guarantees the rights of believers.”
5) Theology of the body
After noting that the Church is “mother and teacher,” the alleged cardinal author of the text stresses that “she can never be reduced to a system of flexible ethics or sociological analysis and remodeling to fit the instincts and appetites (and sexual confusions) of an age.”
“One of the key flaws in the current pontificate,” Demos II maintains, “is its retreat from a convincing ‘theology of the body’ and its lack of a compelling Christian anthropology … precisely at a time when attacks on human nature and identity, from transgenderism to transhumanism, are mounting.”
The theology of the body is a compilation of the catechesis that St. John Paul II gave during the Wednesday general audiences from 1979 to 1984 in response to the results of the sexual revolution of the late 1960s.
6) Papal duties, travel
“Global travel served a pastor like Pope John Paul II so well,” Demos II notes, “because of his unique personal gifts and the nature of the times. But the times and circumstances have changed.”
“The Vatican itself urgently needs a renewal of its morale, a cleansing of its institutions, procedures, and personnel, and a thorough reform of its finances to prepare for a more challenging future,” the author indicates.
“These are not small things. They demand the presence, direct attention, and personal engagement of any new pope,” Demos II emphasizes.
7) College of Cardinals
“The College of Cardinals exists to provide senior counsel to the pope and to elect his successor upon his death. That service requires men of clean character, strong theological formation, mature leadership experience, and personal holiness,” the anonymous author declares.
“It also requires a pope,” he continues, “willing to seek advice and then to listen.”
“The current pontificate has placed an emphasis on diversifying the college, but it has failed to bring cardinals together in regular consistories designed to foster genuine collegiality and trust among brothers. As a result, many of the voting electors in the next conclave will not really know each other, and thus may be more vulnerable to manipulation,” the supposed cardinal warns.
Why did Demos II write anonymously?
“The answer should be evident from the tenor of today’s Roman environment: Candor is not welcome, and its consequences can be unpleasant,” the author explains.
Demos II points out that “the current pontificate’s heavy dependence on the Society of Jesus, the recent problematic work by the DDF’s [Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith] Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, and the emergence of a small oligarchy of confidants with excessive influence within the Vatican — all despite synodality’s decentralizing claims, among other things” — are real issues.
Argentine Cardinal Fernández is the current prefect of the DDF and is responsible for the December 2023 declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which has sparked controversy throughout the world for its authorization of nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples and those in “irregular situations.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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