Can you hold on to a position of power indefinitely in the Church? No you can’t. That’s a dangerous proposition and the idea of clinging on to the chair comes from the devil.
Pope Francis has amply made it clear that Church doesn’t favour and want dictators “The only one who is indispensable is the Holy Spirit, and no one is Lord, except Jesus Christ,” Pope Francis said to a group of 30,000 people at an inter-denominational rally of charismatic Christians in St. Peter’s Square. Why is Pope reminding Church members about indispensability and authoritarianism. Is it time for the next major reform in the Church?
It's a clear indication from Pope Francis -- it’s abundantly clear that he doesn’t favour clergy or laity to rule for a long time like dictators. In fact, in some countries this is happening. There’s no retirement age for top church leaders and religious. Pope Francis has been on a mission to reform the Vatican curia and introduced several changes. Much more remains to be done. Pope Francis established the Council of Cardinals just a month into his pontificate to help him reform the Curia and govern the universal church.
His statement against indispensability and authoritarianism could be an indicator of long-awaited reforms in the Church. The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the revised Code of Canon Law (1983) were two major occasions when Catholic Church witnessed major reforms. While the first led Pope Paul VI to reform the Roman Curia, the second step was initiated by Pope John Paul II. When is the third major reform coming?
When a person gets a position of power, he enjoys it, but slowly and steadily starts making mistakes one after another. He develops vested interests, acts as per his whims and fancies and like a drunk man, power goes to his head. He gets the feeling of indispensability. What follows is dictatorship and chaos.
In other words, Pope is saying that Church doesn’t want people occupying the same position ad infinitum. “It is appropriate that all services in the Church have a time limit,” he said. Leaders for life happen in countries under a dictatorship. We have many such countries in this world. History tells us that dictators who ruled such countries had a violent end.
Dictatorships can create problems in the church as well. “Believing yourself to be indispensable is a great temptation for leaders, and it comes from the devil,” said Pope Francis. “Authoritarianism and personalism easily enter in when leaders desire to hold onto their position forever” and “one slides from being a servant to being a master,” he said.
Is the statement of Pope directed at church leaders who have been holding powerful positions for a long time? Is he hinting that Church leaders should make way for new generations and leaders or an indication of a major reform in the Church? The 78-year-old Pontiff has said on other occasions that he would be prepared to resign instead of ruling for life if he felt he could not continue running the 1.2 billion-member Church for health or other reasons.
Pope Francis said Pope Benedict’s retirement decision “should not be considered an exception, but an institution.” “Nowadays an emeritus pope is not a strange thing, but it opened the door for this to exist,” he said. Pope also said, however, that he did not like the idea of an automatic retirement age for popes, for example at age 80.
