ARE CATHOLICS WHO LOVE AND PROTECT ORTHODOXY THE LATE POPE FRANCIS HATERS?

I have never hated Pope Francis, RIP, but I joined many clergy and laity who did not like His Holiness’ modus operandi and His Holiness’ penchant to return the Church of the last 12 years to a polarization not seen since the papacy of St. Pope Paul VI. 

There were many moderate academic theologians sounding the alarm bell about Pope Francis confusion and incoherence. And then there were many cardinals and bishops doing the same thing, in particular four: Cardinals Zen, Pell, Burke and Sarah, but many others too. 

To give Pope Paul a break, he too was derided by heterodox hippie clergy and laity of the 60’s and 70’s too, especially beginning in 1968 with Humanae Vitae and then subsequent to that, the various liturgy wars as clergy and laity implemented a heterodox implementation of Vatican II, especially by saying that what they were doing is what Vatican II asked, when after actually reading the documents of Vatican II, one on their own could see that clearly Vatican II did not teach that. Truth was sacrificed in an Orwellian way as Pope Leo would describe it.

After the election of Pope Francis, it became quite clear that His Holiness longed for the progressive’s implementation of Vatican II as was being done prior to Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Pope Francis clearly preferred the trajectory of the “synodal” underground, progressive Church of the 1960’s and 70’s and longed for a return to that trajectory, a trajectory that most of us felt had been put to rest and under two great popes, one a saint and the other a “should be” saint, John Paul II and Benedict, had brought more peace and calm to the Church and less polarization, although the heterodox right and left still existed then as they do now, but now on steroids thanks to Pope Francis.

For me, Cardinal Zen, no Francis hater, but a lover of Divine Truth and the Deposit of Faith of the Catholic Church and thus a lover of the Risen Lord, the Head of the Church and a lover of the Church, which is His body, made clear exactly what I’ve been feeling about Pope Francis’ papacy, that it suffered from the Original Sin of Adam and Eve, the deadly sin of pride. 

Let’s review Cardinal Zen’s marvelous, brief elocution to Pope Leo and the College of Cardinals at the recent consistory. It is a road map out the heterodoxy of the left that has magnified in the last 12 years.

This is an AI summary of Cardinal Zen’s critique of Pope Francis’ papacy. A critique is not hatred, although the heterodox for ideological purposes would call it that to bait and switch orthodoxy for heterodoxy:

At the January 7-8, 2026, extraordinary consistory, Cardinal Joseph Zen 

sharply criticized the Synod on Synodality, calling it an "ironclad manipulation" and an "insult to the dignity of the bishops," questioning the Holy Spirit's role in its outcomes and warning it could fracture the Church. The 93-year-old cardinal stated that invoking the Holy Spirit for surprises that contradict 2,000 years of tradition was "ridiculous and almost blasphemous," challenging the idea that lay participants truly represented the entire People of God. 

Key Points of Cardinal Zen's Remarks:

• Manipulation: He described the synodal process as a form of "ironclad manipulation" of bishops.
• Blasphemy/Ridiculousness: He found the repeated claims of the Holy Spirit guiding the synod to unexpected conclusions to be "ridiculous and almost blasphemous".
• Dignity of Bishops: Zen felt the process insulted the inherent dignity of bishops by sidelining their traditional role.
• Divisions: He warned that differing interpretations, especially regarding contextual adaptations, could lead to schism, similar to the Anglican Communion.
• Questioned Representation: He doubted whether any pope could truly "listen to the entire People of God" through the synodal process or if the lay delegates accurately represented everyone.
• Pope Leo XIV's Synodality: He contrasted "Bergoglian synodality" with the traditional role of the Synod of Bishops, suggesting Pope Francis had made the institution disappear by incorporating non-bishops. 

Context:

• These comments were made during the first major meeting of Pope Leo XIV with 170 cardinals, a closed-door session where cardinals were asked to maintain confidentiality, leading to a lack of official Vatican comments on Zen's strong criticisms.