(LifeSiteNews) — This article was prepared before the illness that forced the Supreme Pontiff to be hospitalized. Like all the faithful, I too offer my prayers for the physical and spiritual health of Pope Francis. What I write below remains valid for the direction of his pontificate, which is still being carried out today. One sees this in the recent suppression of the Miles Christi (Soldiers of Christ) in Argentina, announced on Thursday, March 6.
The current pontificate is distinguished by a real contradiction: the Pope is an enemy of Tradition, a persecutor of those who follow and identify with it. This persecution is accomplished in many ways: he ousts good bishops and appoints coadjutors, elevates progressives to the episcopate, purposefully elevates to the cardinalate those who second his projects to reform the Church, promotes progressive religious orders, and undermines or eliminates those attached to Tradition. It is significant that he has chosen the unusual name of Francis – alien to papal history – probably thinking of the saint of Assisi and considering him an ecclesial reformer.
All of these attitudes trigger a need for pretense to avoid becoming an object of the Pontiff’s interest, or else they incite attachment to him and lead one to become a “party-liner.” Francis’ Jesuit background largely explains the situation above, if we take into account the historical ups and downs of the Society.
The novelty of the current pontificate is particularly noticeable in the theological and doctrinal sphere. If there is one thing that characterizes the Roman See, it is the care taken to remain on the paths of Tradition. Great popes have always distinguished themselves in this way. Close to us are the encyclicals of Leo XIII and the work of St. Pius X against Modernism, Pascendi Dominici gregis. His successor, Benedict XV, continued this purpose in his first encyclical, Ad beattisimi apostolorum.
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Pius XI promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and instituted its liturgical feast, as well as that of Christ the King. His study on communism, Divini Redemptoris, framed the attitude of the Church during the 20th century. We must also point out the work of Pius XII in warning about the dangers of nouvelle théologie (Humani generis, 1950). Paul VI reacted painfully by defining the immorality of artificial contraception (Humanae vitae, 1968). John Paul II and Benedict XVI were true teachers of the Catholic faith.
However, Francis’ errors and confusions have multiplied. Reports of his conversations with Eugenio Scalfari, founder of La Repubblica, have given people a lot to talk about: “The souls that repent are forgiven; those that persist in sin disappear.” There would be no hell but only the disappearance of the damned. On this subject Francis also taught that “hell is to say to God, ‘I don’t need you. I can manage on my own.’ As did the devil, the only one we are sure is in hell.”
His Mariology is deficient: he rejects the title of Co-Redemptrix because – he says – “she is not divine.” He does not preach about the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ, but rather promotes a horizontal humanism in accord with the globalist agenda. He is lavish in exhorting peace and speaking against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Although this is a prudent attitude, it must be recognized that war is not an absolute evil, for there is such a thing as a just war. From this point of view, too, he departs from the Tradition of the Church.
Héctor Aguer
Archbishop Emeritus of La Plata
Buenos Aires, Tuesday, March 11, 2025