Silerium non possum doesn’t like it. May be too critical. But could you imagine Pius XII, John XXIII or Paul VI entering St. Peter’s dressed like this?
View Facebook video HERE.
Vatican City — An image that surprised, displaced and, for many, left a sense of discomfort. Pope Francis arrived today at St. Peter's Basilica in a wheelchair, with his body wrapped in a woolen blanket, without wearing the white talare, but simply black pants. The pale face, the tired breath, the tired look: the Pontiff seems visibly exhausted, still convalescent after a bilateral pneumonia that forced him to be hospitalized in recent days. The visit, they report, is due to the Pope's desire to visit St. Pius X and Benedict XV. "In recent years he has never made these prayers, how strange" comments a canon of St. Peter's Basilica.
"He can't breathe on his own," confessed a cleric from Casa Santa Marta. "For the visit of the English royals the oxygen was taken away for a short time, only for the photo, which was artfully studied because now there is the terror of your criticism".
The management of the Pope's public image - as already pointed out several times on these pages - is today entrusted to a small group of characters "romanacci da cicchetto and osteria". It is not even the case, here, to reopen the embarrassing chapter of the Dicastery for Communication, which has long represented one of the most opaque pages of this pontificate. The reference is rather to those who today, concretely, deal with the "body of the Pope", his public exposure, his outings, his image, in fact. In recent weeks, the Pontiff has appeared in public in conditions of obvious fragility, exposed, almost exhibited, as a symbol to be shown. To do so are some of the "wist collaborators" who surround him today, figures who have remained on the margins of the scene for years and who are now looking for a space that until now they have not had. Last Sunday, in St. Peter's Square, the Pope was taken outside without even a coat, despite the cold. Today, wrapped in a wool blanket, he was led to the Vatican Basilica between disorder, improvisation and a visibly neglected environment. The dirt that reigns in the Basilica led by the Franciscan Mauro Gambetti, already reported several times by faithful and visitors, have made the scene even more embarrassing.
30 comments:
I think he is saying farewell. Looks terrible
Less is more.
They should let him depart with dignity.
I agree!
He is wrapped tight like a mummy for possibly poor circulation and dressing is likely a nightmare, am suprised he has made the appearances he has made to date, considering his deterioration. Well, he really wanted the papacy, and top of the world gloating when he got it, and boy is he having fun, now, and he's welcome to it.
Yes, please
I was shocked to see this yesterday. This action raises all kinds of questions; why come into St Peter's at that time, dressed like that? Why not wait until after hours when the visitors are gone? Is there some desperate and hasty reason the Pope would do this? I truly believe he has days, if not hours. I would be very surprised if he makes it through the end of April.
Why make the journey in public? Could it not have been made privately ?
Pope Francis has set aside so many papal protocols, especially that of the monarchical court. Prior to this pope, I don't think a pope went anywhere without courtiers, meaning those who protect him and cardinals/bishops of the curia. Now, in his dying days, it seems his private nurse who is the one pushing the wheel chair into the basilica and dressed in somewhat casually himself, is calling the shots. When my mother was dying of congestive heart failure at the age of 93, low oxygen levels played tricks with her mind. She was a stubborn Italian without low oxygen but low oxygen put that stubbornness on steroids! I would venture to guess that the pope told his private nurse that he wanted to go into St. Peter's and now, even though he was in black pants and an undershirt! So, just throw on a blanket to hide the undershirt and wheel him in! How many, who should have known, did not know about this spontaneous gesture enabled by the private nurse and in the state of undress the pope was in. It is the collapse of protocol which this pope has facilitated.
Father McDonald,
I am sorry to hear about your Mom's last days. But with Pope Francis it is all about "virtue signaling" look at me, see how different I am than my predecessors! The Church was actually on the slow road to recovery under Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict, but then Pope Francis came along. The Church is in a worse place than it was at the beginning of his pontificate. Yet, there are glimmers of hope, which are not to be found in the progressive camp.
Our hope is in the TLM communities and those Novus Ordo communities which embrace sacred tradition and sound doctrine. I was just in France and went to the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris which is sponsored by the Daughters of Charity. Low and behold the sisters were all in habits (modified, but nonetheless identical dress and veils) and the 4 pm Mass on a Tuesday was packed, standing room only!!! The ordinary was sung in Latin. You will not find that sort of Novus Ordo Mass in a typical French parish where the attendance numbers are depressing, even on a Sunday. This experience reinforced my hope for the future.
Oh, it is SO disturbing to see the humanity of the pope! It is SHOCKING, shocking I tell you. Black pants! Can you imagine the thousands of papal courtiers who are turning in their taffeta lined coffins, the monsignors to are twirling the fringes on their fascias, the Italian noble men and women who are just Sono Arrabiato Nero!
Ooh yes! Parade him in naked with the catheter and urine bag and colostomy bag showing! Great moments in papal humanity!
K you seem like a taffeta and fringe kind of guy! After all, you are a Democrat!
This Pope will remain an enigma to the last. A man quick to anger and disagree, yet so easily influenced by others.
I would say he has on nearly a full body support hose, for the poor circulation, limiting movement and making playing dress-up doll a torture for all concerned. Meanwhile, the internet chatter all about whether he is mentally incapacitated, and so the public showings, to quiet the rumor mill.
I have no idea how long he was without oxygen during the choking incident where they had to vacuum out his lungs, which takes time, the docs freely admitted they were tempted to let him go, but his private health secretary said it was Francis' wish that all measures to save him be taken....nor do I know all the damage done to organs by the meds used to save him, most of those to treat the still existing lung infections ravage the body...
There's Pope John Paul II's witness of continuing to serve God in his suffering with dignity, and then there's... whatever is going on here. There's seeing humanity and then there's seeing unnecessary humiliation. Even despite the past 12 years, it's hard not to pity the man.
Nick
In regard to Pope Francis' supposed shattering of "protocol": Long before the world had heard of Pope Francis...
"Traditionalists" had long insisted that Pope Benedict XVI trampled Papal "protocol." Examples:
-- Pope Benedict XVI posed for photographs during which he had donned baseball caps, as well as additional "funny" headgear. Various right-wingers insisted that said photo-ops were embarrassing...made Pope Benedict XVI appear ridiculous...cheapened the Papacy.
-- Pope Saint John Paul II had engaged in numerous similar photo-ops. He, too, was said to have embarrassed himself...shamed the Papacy.
Critics noted that the above-mentioned Popes refused the Papal Tiara, but did not hesitate to have donned supposed "ridiculous" headgear.
-- For centuries, "protocol" had called for Popes to dine alone. Pope Saint Pius X shattered said "protocol." Nevertheless, certain folks were shocked that he had refused to dine alone.
-- Once upon a time Papal "protocol" had rendered the following utterly unimaginable:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Ajga1VLtk
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I view as preposterous the latest Pope Francis-related concocted "controversy" in question.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Father Kavanaugh, thank you for your wonderful voice-of-reason comment at April 11, 2025 at 9:57 AM.
Father Kavanaugh, you advanced the peace, love, as well as sympathy, of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you, Father.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Thank you Mark. I look forward to seeing this pope or another enter St. Peter’s as a nudist since breaking protocols are all equal and anything broken protocol is just a part of grand papal protocol breaking!
MT Suit,
I think I can safely say most us here see that your positions are truly preposterous and the musings of a toady.
I am confident that 99.9999999 percent of Catholics are not the least bit bothered in regard to the supposed "controversy" related to yesterday's public visit that involved His Holiness.
Even New Catholic (Rorate Caeli), a vicious critic of Pope Francis, declared yesterday:
"Not going to criticize a dying man in a poncho, sorry. Let him be."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
To even mention the late, great Pope Benedict in the same breath as Pope Francis is beyond ludicrous. Pope Benedict was a great intellect and a very precise thinker who drafted his writings with great care. He also understood the history and majesty of the Roman Rite and in is heart knew that the Novus Ordo was a disaster which propelled him to issue Summorum Pontificum. He declared liturgical peace with that document, whereas, the mean spirited, puerile behaving blunderer declared liturgical war with Traditionis Custodes.
Fr. AJM,
Protocols, like the liturgy, are just human constructs. Now you're starting to get it!
Nick
MT Suit,
You picked a great advocate there who votes for the Party of abortion on demand, drag queen shows for children, sex change operations for minors without parental consent, how to gay sex manuals for grade school children, illegal aliens raping and murdering American citizens. Great judgment on your part! Do you think, at all?
Father McDonald, as always I thank you for having allowed me to express myself on/via your blog.
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I again thank Father Kavanaugh for his holy defense of Pope Francis/Pope Francis' humanity. Via Father Kavanaugh's post in question, I have encountered the mercy, love, and sympathy that Our Lord Jesus Christ has for Pope Francis. For that matter, Jesus Christ extends His mercy, love, and sympathy, to each of us.
But in particular, Father Kavanaugh has highlighted the wonderful humanity with which the Child of God, Pope Francis, created in God's image, has been blessed.
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In line with that which I have been taught by Holy Mother Church: I renew my love and respect for, as well as obedience to, holy Pope Francis.
May God continue to heal Pope Francis according to His will.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
More pancakes, please, this stack is swimming. Mark, thanks for clearing up the humanity thing of Francis, as having an avacado for a pope would be rather strange.
Father McDonald,
This is an interesting article by Archbishop Auguer who knows the pope personally from the earlier days:
https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-popes-health-by-archbishop-hector.html?m=1#more
Bob, thank you for your reply.
Bob, credit goes to Father Kavanaugh, not I, for having highlighted "the humanity thing of Francis." That had been forgotten by certain folks who had commented negatively in regard to Pope Francis' surprise public visit in question.
Deo gratias for the Jesus Christ-inspired mercy and compassion that Father Kavanaugh demonstrated toward Pope Francis.
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As I had noted yesterday, even New Catholic (Rorate Caeli), who has spewed venom at His Holiness repeatedly, had the decency to have declared:
"Not going to criticize a dying man in a poncho, sorry. Let him be.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Mark, do you talk like that in conversation face to face with people? If not, then why write that way here as a blog hog? And if you do speak conversationally the way you write, how long does it take for you to see their eyes roll up and them pass out from all the holy-this and holy-that?
Methinks, he suffers from an extreme form of 'ecclesiastical self-gratification'
I think it from being another unemployed Hagiography major.
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