One of the great contemporary thinkers of Latin America assumes that Francis’ legacy “will be difficult to deny” for the next pontificate
Humility and communication capacity. This is how historian Leandro Karnal, one of the great contemporary thinkers of Latin America, describes Francis, “a pope who established bridges rather than walls” but who still made mistakes.
In an interview with CNN Portugal, Leandro Karnal points out Pope Francis’ “humility of presentation”, who, unlike the previous popes, “asked from the beginning a cross that was not gold and refused to use the Pope’s traditional red shoes.” Francisco’s first official trip was Lampedusa, thus anticipating what would be “a bet on the internationalization of the Church” in her pontificate.
Over the past 12 years, Francis “has named the most diverse people’s cardinal posts, diminished Europe’s weight at the Cardinian College, left traditional headquarters without cardinals in Italy, which was quite annoying for some Italians,” recalls the historian, who points out that of the almost 135 cardinals who will be able to vote for the conclave, “over 100” were named by Pope Francis. Hence the historian believes that the next Pope will certainly be influenced by the pontificate of Francis.
“It’s a legacy that will be hard to deny. If the Pope again wearing red shoes, visiting only large centers, named cardinals only for traditional posts in the big European churches, that will be strange,” he assumes.
Leandro Karnal believes that the great challenge of the next Pope will be the ability to communicate – which, incidentally, was the tendon of Achilles of previous popes, points out the historian. “John Paul II was more conservative than Francis, and was a great communication pope, canonized by the Church. Benedict XVI, an extraordinary theologian, was bad in communication, because he was a man of intellectuality. Francisco, with his simplicity … Just remember when he came to Brazil, early in the papacy, for the world days, also visited an evangelical church, that is, that is, [foi] A Pope who established bridges and not walls. “
Throughout his pontificate, however, Francis also made mistakes, as Leandro Karnal points out, recalling an interview in which the Pope said “a very ugly word, a Roman slang – Fracardym – which is a very made word to refer to very heavy homosexuals. “The Pope eventually apologized later.
For the historian, this episode shows that “even a pope with so much dialogue with modernity, survives in more or less ancient forms.” “That word Fracardym – That for us has no weight, because we are not Italians, but that for the central region of Rome is a very heavy word – is a pejorative word and concerns an insult, including. The Pope apologized and people make mistakes, make slips, but this was a pope who was much sought after by people, was received as a light of renewal. “
