Pope Francis will write a latest page within the history of the church on Jan. 5 when he presides on the requiem Mass and funeral ceremony of his predecessor. No pope in history has ever done this.
On March 13, he’ll enter the eleventh 12 months of his pontificate. On the age of 86, he’s already the third oldest pope to guide the church within the last 800 years, but he shows no signs of slowing down by way of his agenda, notwithstanding problems of mobility attributable to ailments in his right knee.
His agenda appears daunting even for a younger man, but, as he has said on multiple occasion, “one governs from the top, not from the knee.” He’s otherwise in good health and good spirits and has stated, in multiple interview over the past six months, that the considered resignation has not entered his head.
For the primary time since his election almost 10 years ago, there shall be no emeritus pope within the church. It is going to mark the start of a latest era for the Francis pontificate in keeping with a cardinal who’s near him. Quite what impact that might have on Francis and on his decision making in the approaching years stays to be seen.
Pope Francis will write a latest page within the history of the church on Jan. 5 when he presides on the requiem Mass and funeral ceremony of his predecessor. No pope in history has ever done this.
What follows are a few of the key events in Francis’ agenda which might be prone to occur over the subsequent 12 months. Francis, in fact, could surprise us in additional ways than one.
Foreign Travel
Pope Francis has come to see visiting other countries as a crucial a part of his effort at evangelization, promoting interfaith dialogue and fostering peace on the planet. He’s the second-most-traveled pope in history after John Paul II, having already made 39 foreign trips and visited 58 countries as pope. He plans to travel much more in 2023, depending on his physical mobility.
He’s scheduled to set out on his fortieth foreign journey on Jan. 31 when he makes his fifth visit to the African continent. He’ll travel first to the Democratic Republic of Congo—the country with the most important Catholic population in Africa—and from there fly to South Sudan, from Feb. 3 to Feb. 5. He shall be the primary pope to go to South Sudan, a rustic that only gained its independence in 2011.
Originally scheduled for July 2022, the Africa visit needed to be postponed due to Francis’ problem along with his right knee. The visit to South Sudan shall be an “ecumenical pilgrimage of peace,” and he shall be joined by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby; and the moderator of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields. Due to the security situation in each countries, Francis will only find a way to go to their respective capital cities, Kinshasa and Juba.
There are several other foreign trips penciled in on his diary for 2023, but a senior Vatican source told America that which, if any, of those he’ll make is dependent upon how well he fares on the African visit. If that trip goes with none major hitch related to mobility, he could then travel to other countries through the 12 months.
His agenda appears daunting even for a younger man, but, as he has said on multiple occasion, “one governs from the top, not from the knee.”
Indeed, Francis could visit anyone and even all the following countries in 2023: Hungary (in the primary a part of the 12 months); Lebanon (depending on the formation of a government there); Marseilles, France (a one-day visit to fulfill the bishops from port cities of the Mediterranean which might be destinations for migrants); and Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day (Aug. 5 and 6). A visit to Ukraine remains to be on his agenda, but that’s more complicated due to political, logistical and security reasons.
On Oct. 30, 2021, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Francis within the Vatican and invited him to go to his country. It was envisaged that this might occur in early 2023, but since then the Indian government has not yet taken the essential steps to make it occur. Then again, the Mongolian authorities and church have invited Francis to go to Mongolia, and the country’s first cardinal, Giorgio Marengo, told La Croix that Francis “has accepted the offer.”
Synodality
Synodality is a central plank of Francis’ pontificate; he sees it because the path to a serious reform and conversion of the entire church. He launched the synodal process in October 2021, a journey on which the entire church will reflect on the theme “Towards a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission.” The primary phase of the method began on the diocesan and national levels in countries worldwide. The second phase, on the continental level, will happen in the primary quarter of 2023. The third phase will open within the Vatican on Oct. 4, 2023, with the primary of the 2 synodal assemblies: cardinals, bishops and other members of the people of God, from all countries of the world will attend, as will Francis. The second synodal assembly is scheduled to happen on the Vatican in October 2024 on the eve of the Holy Yr.
Recent Cardinals
From the start of his pontificate, Francis set out to alter the geographical and cultural balance within the College of Cardinals, not only by reducing the variety of electors from Europe and Italy but additionally by increasing the variety of electors from the peripheries of the world, including from countries which have never had cardinals before.
By the top of December 2023, the variety of cardinal electors, that’s, cardinals under the age of 80 with a right to vote in a conclave, may have decreased to 114, of whom only 44 shall be European and 13 Italian. (Compare this to the 2013 conclave where 60 of the 115 electors were European and 28 Italian.)
Before that consistory he’ll have already got created 79 of the 114 electors. With the brand new batch, greater than two-thirds of the electors in a future conclave may have been created by him.
Because of this Pope Francis could make a latest batch of cardinals, at the least 6 but probably many more, perhaps at the top of November.
Before that consistory he’ll have already got created 79 of the 114 electors. With the brand new batch, greater than two-thirds of the electors in a future conclave may have been created by him.
Nominations
No fewer than seven Vatican officials in senior positions of responsibility have surpassed the official age of retirement, which is 75. A few of them are widely expected to get replaced in the primary half of 2023, thus allowing Francis to proceed reshaping the Roman Curia to reflect more fully his vision of a synodal church.
Amongst those most certainly to get replaced in the approaching months are the Spanish cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, who will have fun his 79th birthday in April, the Canadian cardinal Marc Ouellet, the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops who will turn 79 in June, and the Italian cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the key penitentiary, who shall be 79 in September. Given the character of those three offices, Francis will almost actually appoint clerics as prefects to all of them.
The 4 other cardinal prefects who’re over the age of 75 are expected to retain their positions for at the least another 12 months, but when he decides to interchange them he could go for lay individuals in a number of of those positions of responsibility.
At one other level, Pope Francis will proceed renewing the episcopate in countries world wide, including america and Canada, as diocesan bishops turn 75, and that too could change the face of the church in significant ways.
Audiences and Interviews
Francis is unlikely to decelerate this 12 months. He is anticipated to proceed to carry public audiences on Wednesdays throughout 2023, in addition to group or private audiences each week. He’ll likely proceed to offer interviews to representatives of the Italian and international media and to carry airborne press conferences on return journeys from foreign visits. Along with all this, he’ll proceed his practice of meeting individuals within the afternoons, encounters that seldom if ever are made known to the general public. Indeed, his private agenda can often be more crowded than his public one. And he’ll proceed to make use of the phone to speak directly with people.
