Karol, Joseph and Jorge: The growing focus on the man inside the office

Catholic Herald, 12 June 2020

What is the relationship between the office of supreme pontiff and the man who holds it?

There was a minor flap recently when the Vatican directory, Annuario Pontifico, was released with a new layout for the pages on Pope Francis. In previous years, the papal name was followed by the title, Bishop of Rome, and then a series of other titles, of which the most prominent was “Vicar of Jesus Christ”. This year, that title was relegated to a list of “historical titles”. It was an example of what I have taken to calling “imbergoglios”, where seemingly routine matters – like the annual Vatican directory – spark controversy. Cardinal Gerhard Müeller went so far as to call it “theological barbarism”.

The new Annuario layout lists “Jorge Bergoglio” and his dates above “Vicar of Christ”. It is, however, an interesting question, one that has been rapidly changing in recent pontificates: what is the relationship between the office of supreme pontiff and the man who holds it?

The late Cardinal Francis George of Chicago put it bluntly early in this pontificate: “Jorge Bergoglio is dead. Pope Francis lives.” It echoed the supposed advice given to the new queen by her grandmother, the dowager Queen Mary in 1952: Elizabeth Windsor is to be mourned, Elizabeth Regina now lives.

Yet given the celebrations on May 18 for Karol Wojtyła’s 100th birthday, it is not quite so clear that Jorge dies when he becomes Peter. It was not so for Karol and Joseph. Indeed, the fact that the anniversary of Wojtyła’s birth was so widely marked signals the growing importance of the man who holds the office.

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https://catholicherald.co.uk/karol-joseph-and-jorge-the-growing-focus-on-the-man-inside-the-office/