The voice of Pope Francis and the magisterium of fragility

By Andrea Tornielli

This year, the twelfth anniversary of his pontificate falls at a particular moment for Pope Francis, who has been living in his hospital room on the tenth floor of Gemelli Hospital for almost a month. The news coming from the latest medical bulletins is encouraging, his prognosis is no longer guarded, and hopefully he will be able to return to the Vatican soon. Still, what the Pope is going through at this time undoubtedly makes this anniversary of the beginning of his pontificate very unusual. The same year that has seen Pope Francis’ longest intercontinental journey (to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, and Singapore); the conclusion of the Synod on Synodality; and the opening of the Holy Door that inaugurated the Jubilee, now witnesses this delicate passage. The Successor of St Peter, sick among the sick, suffers and prays for peace, accompanied by the chorus of prayers of so many people around the world. He, who in these twelve years has never concluded a meeting, a catechesis or an Angelus without the words, “Please do not forget to pray for me”, today feels the embrace of so many believers and non-believers who care deeply for him.

It is revealing: it is a time to consider the nature of the Church and the mission of the Bishop of Rome, which is so different from that of the general manager of a multinational corporation. Twelve years ago, the then Cardinal Bergoglio addressed the General Congregations, quoting Henri De Lubac’s opinion that “the worst evil” the Church can incur is “spiritual worldliness”: The danger of a Church that “believes she has light of its own”, that counts on her own strength, her own strategies, her own efficiency, and thus ceases to be the “mysterium lunae”, that is, no longer reflecting the light of Another, no longer living and acting only by the grace of the One who said: “Without me you can do nothing”.

Remembering those words once again, today, we look with affection and hope at the windows of the tenth floor of Gemelli Hospital. We thank Pope Francis for this magisterium of fragility, for that still feeble voice of his that has joined the Rosary in St Peter’s Square in recent days—a fragile voice that continues to implore peace and not war, dialogue and not oppression, compassion and not indifference. Happy anniversary, Pope Francis! We still need your voice so much.