Vatican expert John L. Allen Jr. appears to be sending mixed signals on how sick Francis is:
"On August 19, 1914, for example, L’Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, published a stinging editorial denouncing unnamed commentators who had suggested the previous day that Pope Pius X had a cold."
"Less than twenty-four hours later, Pius X was dead."
"Historically, the most reliable way to destabilize a monarchy, whether of the secular or ecclesiastical sort, is to suggest that the king is ill. Traditionally, therefore, the Vatican is extremely reluctant to acknowledge that a pope is ill, fearing that it will induce a fin de régime scramble for power and turn the sitting pope into a lame duck."
"No of this is to suggest there’s any reason to think that Pope Francis is seriously ill, or that the Vatican’s explanation of a 'light cold' isn’t correct."
[https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2020/03/franciss-cold-not-coronavirus-beckons-thoughts-on-papal-health-scares/]
"'For one thing, the Vatican was recently on the verge of a full-blown health scare around Pope Francis, as he cancelled a series of events due to what’s been described as just a 'light cold.' Under normal circumstances, such reassurances would only hold for so long."
"... Really, the Vatican could have saved itself the grief and just put out one consolidated statement as follows: 'Right now we’re in disarray, rife with power struggles, and one of the things we’re fighting over is control of human resources.'”
"Because make no mistake, that’s precisely what the flip-flop on a “General Directorate for Personnel” reveals."
[https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2020/03/coronavirus-aside-sooner-or-later-the-vaticans-epic-hr-flip-flop-will-be-noticed/ ]
How sick is Francis and is he a "lame duck" with "power struggles" in the Vatican?
"Less than twenty-four hours later, Pius X was dead."
"No of this is to suggest there’s any reason to think that Pope Francis is seriously ill, or that the Vatican’s explanation of a 'light cold' isn’t correct."
[https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2020/03/franciss-cold-not-coronavirus-beckons-thoughts-on-papal-health-scares/]
"'For one thing, the Vatican was recently on the verge of a full-blown health scare around Pope Francis, as he cancelled a series of events due to what’s been described as just a 'light cold.' Under normal circumstances, such reassurances would only hold for so long."
"... Really, the Vatican could have saved itself the grief and just put out one consolidated statement as follows: 'Right now we’re in disarray, rife with power struggles, and one of the things we’re fighting over is control of human resources.'”
[https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2020/03/coronavirus-aside-sooner-or-later-the-vaticans-epic-hr-flip-flop-will-be-noticed/ ]
How sick is Francis and is he a "lame duck" with "power struggles" in the Vatican?
Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
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