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Damian Thompson

Cardinal Pell’s righteous fury at the

Vatican’s theological direction
11 January 2023, 1:06pm

Cardinal Pell [Getty]

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C
ardinal Pell, a former head of Vatican !nances, does not criticise Pope
Francis directly in the piece he’s written for !e Spectator. But it was
the latter who instituted this ‘synodal way’ which, according to Pell,
‘has neglected, indeed downgraded the Transcendent, covered up the
centrality of Christ with appeals to the Holy Spirit and encouraged resentment,
especially among participants’. Pell states quite plainly that the whole process –
which began with a ‘consultation’ of the laity in which only a minuscule
proportion of the world’s Catholics took part – is in the process of being rigged.
"e synod’s participants will not be allowed to vote and the organising
committee’s views will be passed on to Pope Francis ‘for him to do as he
decides’.
 "at phrase goes to the heart of the matter. Pell describes this arrangement as
‘an abuse of synodality, a sidelining of the bishops, which is unjusti!ed by
scripture or tradition’ and ‘liable to manipulation’. But abuse and manipulation
by whom? "e Synod on Synodality is Francis’s pet project. Its undemocratic
proceedings re#ect his own desire to ‘do as he decides’, as Pell puts it, pointing
out that there is not much enthusiasm at ‘senior Church levels’ for the exercise.
Given that he was once a member of Francis’s ‘cabinet’ of cardinal advisers, we
can assume that Pell had indeed been talking to very senior !gures – not
necessarily all of them as trenchantly conservative as him.

"is is the last public statement by a hugely in#uential cardinal who was once
part of the Pope’s inner circle. Put simply, it expresses righteous fury at the
theological direction of this ponti!cate, hinting that it is betraying Christ
himself. And, by a sad coincidence, it appears in the same week as Archbishop
Gänswein’s revelations that Benedict XVI in retirement was horri!ed by his
successor’s suppression of the Latin Mass and also suspected that it was based
on a bogus consultation. Given these developments, one wonders for how much
longer the wider Church will be prepared to allow an embattled Francis to ‘do as
he decides’.

WRITTEN BY

Damian !ompson
Damian Thompson is an associate editor of The Spectator

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TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE

Society Cardinal Pell Pope Francis Religion

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