VATICAN CITY: From his reforms to his foreign relations, criticism of Pope Francis has intensified since the death of his predecessor Benedict 16th, revealing a climate of "civil war" at a time when the Catholic Church is engaged in a global conversation about its future.
Benedict, a conservative German theologian who was pope for eight years before resigning in February 2013, died last December 31 at the age of 95.
Within days of his death, his closest aide, Georg Gaenswein, revealed Benedict's concerns at some of the changes made by his successor, notably his decision to restrict the use of the Latin Mass.
The criticism was not new. Many in the conservative wing of the Roman Curia, which governs the Church, have long complained that the Argentine pontiff is authoritarian and too focused on pastoral matters at the expense of theological rigor.
But it was followed by the death of Australian cardinal George Pell, and the subsequent revelation that he had authored an anonymous note published last year that directly attacked Francis.
The note had described the current papacy as a "catastrophe," and among others criticized "heavy failures" of Vatican diplomacy under his watch.
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Pell, a former close adviser to Francis, was jailed for child sexual abuse before being acquitted in 2020.
Then, at the end of the month, German Cardinal Gerhard Mueller published a book adding fuel to the fire.
The former head of the Vatican's powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith denounced Francis' "doctrinal confusion" and criticized the influence of a "magic circle" around him.
Mueller's book caused consternation among some inside the Vatican.
"When you accept a cardinal's cap, you agree to support and help the pope. Criticisms are made in private, not in public," said one senior official in the Secretariat of State.
Francis himself told reporters on his plane back from South Sudan last Sunday that his critics have "exploited" Benedict's death to further their cause.
"And those who exploit such a good person, such a man of God ... well, I would say they are unethical people, they are people belonging to a party, not to the Church," he said.
Italian Vatican expert Marco Politi said Mueller's book "is a new stage in the unstoppable escalation by the pope's adversaries."
"There is a civil war in the heart of the Church, which will continue until the last day of the papacy," he told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
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