..now another voice is being heard. The last pope is neither dead nor senile nor as silent as we thought he was going to be. In the last month Benedict XVI has written to the ex-Anglicans of the Ordinariate expressing delight that they now worship in the former Bavarian chapel in Warwick Street, London; to Rome\u2019s Pontifical Urban University about the dangers of relativism; and, most significantly, to supporters of the old liturgy. \u201d\u02dcI am very glad that the usus antiquior [the traditional Latin Mass] now lives in full peace within the church, also among the young, supported and celebrated by great cardinals,\u2019 he said. In fact, very few cardinals celebrate in the old rite. But one who does is Raymond Burke. \u201d\u02dcBenedict is well aware of that,\u2019 says a Ratzinger loyalist. \u201d\u02dcHe\u2019s not under the illusion that he\u2019s still pope, but he was appalled by the sight of Kasper trashing his legacy and he is making his displeasure clear.\u2019<\/p>\n
Where does this leave Francis? Looking a bit like \u201d\u02dcthe Hamlet Pope\u2019, Paul VI, whom he has beatified. He supports some sort of reform, but uncertainty is breaking the church into factions reminiscent of the Anglican Communion. Old enemies of Benedict XVI reckon they can persuade Francis to stack the college of cardinals in their favour. Meanwhile, Burke has emerged as leader of the hardline traditionalists. \u201d\u02dcHe did not want this role but perhaps he sees himself as a St John Fisher figure,\u2019 says one Vatican source, a comparison that casts the successor of Peter in the role of Henry VIII.<\/p>\n
What should worry Francis is that moderate conservative Catholics are losing confidence in him…<\/p>\n