A surprising pope in the desert of European faith. Mizan is one of the most difficult trips

Rome. It was clear that the Pope’s trip to Luxembourg and Belgium was destined to remain among the most important trips of his papacy. The first time in the heart of Europe and, moreover, in the epicenter of secularization that has made faith a weak flame fanned in many cases by foreign migrant communities who keep churches and communities alive. A trench dug over decades has been exposed in its entire width in Leuvenwith Francis sitting and listening to the dean of the Catholic University give him a lesson in doctrine and ethics, asking him why “we tolerate such a huge gap between men and women in a church that is often de facto led by women” and hoping for women to have a “prominent place within the priesthood.” Not only that, given that the archpriest accused the Church of “dealing with the issue of gender diversity in a rigid way,” citing closeness “to LGBT people.”

The Pope did not even expect the university itself to challenge him with a statement accusing him of “reductive and conservative positions,” while Löfven – as we read in the unsigned document – is “inclusive.” Low blow, “This statement was made the moment you spoke. It was pre-prepared and This is not ethicalHe told reporters on the plane. They did not even like his silent prayer in front of the tomb of King Baudouin, who preferred to temporarily abdicate the throne rather than sign the law that legalized abortion. A Belgian journalist told him that the move surprised many people, and that the scene was interpreted as interference in the country’s democratic life. And also because Francis urged Belgians to look to Baldwin “at this time when criminal laws are making their way.” To be clear, the “deadly” criminal law in question is abortion. The Pope added this on the plane Doctors who wish to “kill a human being” are “hired killers.”“.

The trip appeared difficult from the start, with the drama of the abuses serving as a backdrop to speeches by the pope and local authorities. Less unexpected was the decision in which Francis distanced himself from that Northern European ecclesiastical spirit, deeply fraught with social and very modern issues.. The Belgian Church, which led European progressivism for half a century before it turned into a wasteland, was not much impressed by the speeches the Pope made between Brussels and Louvain. Criticisms against relativism and the “drama of weak thought”, warnings against the danger of falling back into soulless rationalism, conditioned by technocratic culture, and words regarding women (“what is feminine is not sanctioned by consensus or ideologies”): unlike the “revolutionary” Pope, To desertified Belgium, Francis brings very ancient recipes, words that could have been uttered by Benedict XVI or John Paul II, and which certainly distance themselves deeply from the line that has prevailed for more than half a century in those latitudes. Who knows what he would have said if one of Bergoglio’s chief electors, Cardinal Godfried Daniels, archbishop of Brussels for thirty-one years and theorist of modernism? Pastoral turns that should have followed the spirit of the times.

Francis’s trip is also an unexpected prelude to the synod, which, although emptied of the most sensitive and controversial chapters, ten committees created will deal with it. For this However, it remains an event awaited by those who aim to undermine the existing structure, and perhaps open up to reforms of the sacred order, as well as those who view such prospects with horror. In reality, The Pope has planted some stakesand even provide a path that will inspire actions: “The Synod’s journey must be a return to the Gospel; Its priorities should not include some modern reforms.”. He said that in Brussels but is also thinking about what will happen this week in Rome. forward Yes, but with a lot Judgment.

• 
  

  
  

• Matteo Mazzozzi
  

• Friulsardo was born in 1986. He graduated in International Politics and Diplomacy in Padua with a thesis on Turks and Americans, and was a football referee. Al Foglio Since 2011, he has covered the church, popes, religions and books. Favorite author: Joseph Roth (but anything related to the Austrian ending will do). He has been editor-in-chief since 2020.