(Vatican City) Pope Francis marked the 10th anniversary of his pontificate on Monday with a series of interviews and a podcast in which he castigates belligerent and authoritarian states, targeting in particular Daniel Ortega’s Nicaragua, which threatens in retaliation to suspend its relations with the Vatican.
The Argentinian Jesuit Jorge Bergoglio became on March 13, 2013 the 266e pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church, succeeding the German Benedict XVI, the first pope to resign since the Middle Ages.
PHOTO TONY GENTILE, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after his election, March 13, 2013.
Inheriting a Church in decline, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires gradually turned it towards the world while defending Catholic doctrine on the marriage of priests, abortion or homosexuality.
A severe critic of neoliberalism, imperialism and military confrontation, the Argentine pope has moved the cursor towards social justice, ecology or the tireless defense of migrants fleeing war and economic misery.
First South American sovereign pontiff, he regularly slays authoritarian excesses and attacks against the Church, including on his home continent.
Last attack in order, François described Friday as a “crude dictatorship” the regime of President Daniel Ortega, in an interview with the Argentine daily Infobae.
“With all due respect, I have no choice but to think that this leader suffers from an imbalance,” said the pope, who in February said he was “concerned” after the 26-year prison sentence. of Bishop Rolando Alvarez and the expulsion of 222 opponents to the United States.
The government of Managua immediately responded. “A suspension of diplomatic relations is envisaged between the Vatican State and the Republic of Nicaragua,” the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
In the numerous interviews granted on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his pontificate, the pope also returned to the conflict in Ukraine.
Interviewed by the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano on what he wanted for the future, he replied, “Peace. Peace for the martyred Ukraine and for all the other countries which suffer the horror of the war which is always a failure for all”.
“We need peace,” he insisted again in the Vatican News podcast, called “popecast.” “What is a podcast? first asked the Argentine pope, before continuing once obtained the explanation “well, let’s do it”.
PHOTO ANDREW MEDICHINI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Resignation?
This Bergoglian decade also saw the development of interreligious dialogue, particularly with Islam.
The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed al-Tayeb, a high Sunni authority, thus sent his wishes to François on Monday for this anniversary.
PHOTO ANDREW MEDICHINI, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayeb and Pope Francis, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in February 2019
The imam of the prestigious mosque in Cairo salutes the efforts of the pope “to build bridges of love and fraternity” in the world.
Congratulatory messages also came from the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew, the most prestigious dignitary of the Orthodox Churches, and the head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Justin Welby.
“He is a pope of this time. He knew how to grasp the needs of today and propose them to the whole of the universal Church and it was a beautiful intuition that he had, enlightened by the holy spirit. And now he gives the Church momentum for the times to come. He sows good for the future,” Don Roberto, a priest who came to the Vatican on Sunday to mark Francis’ ten years of pontificate, told AFPTV.
PHOTO GREGORIO BORGIA, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in Havana, Cuba in February 2016
But his sustained efforts to get closer to Orthodoxy have been overtaken by current events and the historic meeting of 2016 with the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, support of Moscow, seems more distant than ever.
Faced with the drama of pedocrime in the Church, one of his most painful challenges, he lifted the pontifical secret and obliged religious to report cases to their hierarchy. But the victims’ associations expect even more.
And what does he wish for himself? “May the Lord be merciful to me. Being the pope is not an easy job. It is not possible to study to do this job,” he replies.
At 86, his fragile health forces him to move around in a wheelchair and he did not rule out a possible resignation, like his predecessor Benedict XVI, while assuring last month that a renunciation was “not on his agenda. For now “.