Pope Francis is very concerned about his health, following his hospitalization for polymicrobial bronchitis, and as Politico reports, he is rushing to settle pending matters regarding his succession.
The pope is being treated at Rome's Gemelli Hospital with a respiratory infection and has since been forced to cancel a series of public appearances.
It is the latest health crisis for the 88-year-old pontiff, who had part of one lung removed when he was young, making his health increasingly fragile in recent years.
The Holy See Press Office reported that the pope's bronchitis had developed into a "polymicrobial infection" with a "complex clinical picture."
According to two sources cited by Politico, the pope is suffering from severe pain and has expressed fears that he will not make it this time. On Sunday, doctors did not allow Francis to deliver his traditional morning sermon, which he has never missed in the past even when hospitalized. But now he is acting entirely “on doctor’s orders,” as one source put it.
Another source said that the pope initially did not want to go to the hospital but was told clearly that if he did not do so, and remained in his room in the Vatican, he would probably die.
As his health deteriorated over the past month, Francis moved to complete key initiatives and appoint sympathetic figures to key positions.
Francis' succession will be political
On February 6, before being hospitalized, Francis extended the tenure of Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re as dean of the College of Cardinals, a role that will oversee preparations for the papal conclave, a secret gathering that determines the choice of the new pope.
This move, which bypasses the scheduled vote for the next dean, was aimed at ensuring that the process for his election would proceed according to Francis' wishes, the same sources said.
The Italian cardinal is too old to participate in the conclave himself. Nevertheless, he will be a key figure in the behind-the-scenes discussions. The fact that Francis chose him as dean over a younger candidate suggests he wants to keep a friendly face in the role who will defend his legacy, a source said.
Before the 2013 conclave that elected him pope, Francis himself reportedly benefited from the influence of a group of cardinals who were too old to participate in the process but who nevertheless had an influence on the outcome.
Giovanni Battista Re will also perform the funeral rites in the event of Francis' death, who had previously joked that the cardinal would be "more kind" to him than the other candidates.
As Politico points out, before his health deteriorated, Francis was at a politically sensitive moment.
He came into conflict with US Vice President J. N. Vance over the Catholic Church's stance towards immigrants.
Vance, a recent convert to Catholicism, has lashed out at US bishops for opposing raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Catholic churches and schools that are sheltering immigrants, arguing that the bishops are not motivated by humanitarian motives but by financial interests, as they receive government funds to support refugees.
The pontiff, in his circular to American bishops, denounced the Trump administration's policy of mass deportations, which Vance defends, describing it as a "great crisis" and pointing out that any approach based on violence rather than human dignity is doomed to fail.
His intervention angered the White House, raising the prospect of a highly politicized succession battle should Francis die.
“They have already influenced European politics, they would have no problem influencing the conclave,” said a close observer of Vatican politics, referring to the Trump administration. “They may be looking for someone less confrontational,” he said.
On Saturday, the pontiff also accelerated his unprecedented reform move to appoint a nun, Sister Raffaella Petrini, as the next and first female governor of Vatican City, announcing that Petrini's term will begin on March 1.
However, even if Francis manages to emerge strong, observers see Francis shifting his focus from advancing reform to blocking it.
“He may not die now, but at some point he will die,” a Vatican official said. “We all die – and he is an 88-year-old man with lung problems,” he stressed.
Source: skai.gr
