Governance, authoritarianism, the Rupnik affair: Pope Francis responds to criticism

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First published on Jan. 26, 2023.

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Pope Francis has given his first interview since the death of Benedict XVI, admitting to the Associated Press that the open criticism some senior Church officials have levelled at him in the aftermath of his German predecessor’s passing has been like an irritating “rash that bothers you a bit”. 

In the AP interview, which was conducted January 24 and published the next day, did not shy away from addressing critics who have questioned his treatment of the pope emeritus, as well also his mode of governance and the directions of his pontificate. The extremely rare occurrence of Vatican officials openly criticizing the pope was further amplified by the unexpected death of Australian Cardinal George Pell just five days after Benedict’s funeral.

While Francis said such criticism was a bit annoying, he said he’d prefer it to be explicit than behind his back. As he’s done in the past, the 86-year-old pope downplayed the criticisms, linking them more to a form of wear and tear on his pontificate than his predecessor’s death

"Government wears out,” he said. He noted that when he was elected there was first of all surprise. “‘A native from South America, come on, now let's see what he does, what he proposes.’ Good things at first, then they started to see the flaws that I have, the different way of thinking. Some people don't like it, and there's criticism," Francis said.

"We'd rather they didn't criticize, to preserve peace of mind," he admitted. Then he added, "But I prefer them, because it means there is freedom of speech." With these few words, the pope throws the ball back in his critics’ court, especially those who accuse him of being too authoritarian or of not leaving room for his opponents.

"Criticism helps you to grow and improve things"

"Otherwise, you create a dictatorship of distance, as I call it, where the emperor is there and nobody can say anything to him. No, let them speak, because the companionship, the criticism, helps us to grow and make things go well,” he said.

But if they the criticisms are legitimate, Francis continued, they should be made "to our faces because that’s how we all grow, isn't it?" He seemed to underline the lack of courage of those who criticize his actions anonymously. And yet the pope had very positive things to say about one of his most vocal critics, Cardinal George Pell, who wrote an anonymous memorandum criticizing the him and his administration.

"They say that he criticized me, very well, he has the right to do so. Criticism is a human right," Francis says. But then he said: "He was a terrific guy. Wonderful." In private as well as in public, the pope has never hidden his admiration for the Australian cardinal, to whom he attributes the strength of character that was necessary to launch the financial reform of the Curia.

In this interview, the pope also responded to other types of criticism that have emerged in Rome since November, including those concerning the Vatican's handling of the case of Marko Rupnik, the Jesuit mosaic artist accused by several women of very serious sexual abuse. "For me, it was a surprise, really. This, for a person, an artist of this level, has been for me a great surprise, and a wound," Francis said.

"Rupnik? I had nothing to do with it"

The pope categorically denied that he intervened in the Rupnik case, particularly on two points. First, he said he did not lift the excommunication the Slovenian Jesuit incurred in 2020 for hearing the confession and granting absolution to a women he was sexually involved with. That excommunication – for one of the most serious sins in the Catholic Church's internal law – was lifted less than a month later. 

Secondly, Francis says he gave no instructions to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith when it ruled out any canonical proceedings against the accused priest due to the facts being time-barred. "I had nothing to do with that," said Francis, who confirmed that he systematically lifts the statute of limitations in sexual abuse cases involving a minor or vulnerable adult.

"These are legal tools that constitute a guarantee," Francis said. "Without them, justice would become very manipulable."

He said his only involvement in the Rupnik case what to insist that it be examined "before the normal tribunal" according to the classic procedure. That appeared to be another response to the critics who have accused Francis of protecting friends, a charge that Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the Vatican’s former doctrinal chief, leveled in his recent book-length interview.