Romano: It Is Improper And Wrong To Speculate On The Post-Franciscan Era

Contributor John-Paul Romano Writes About The Wrong and Improper Obsession Of Media Outlets To Speculate Who Will Be Elected To Succeed Pope Francis.

Laudetur Iesus Christus.

It feels like almost every day I scroll across another article from both secular and Catholic media outlets about which Bishop or Cardinal they are sure will succeed Pope Francis and why.

We Must Respect and Hold Dear The Most Sacred Petrine Office.

However, such articles are wrong, and any faithful Catholic should dread the day the Lord chooses our dear Holy Father to be called into his Kingdom, no matter who is the holder of the office.

As Catholics, we can not, and should not, stand and speculate on who might become the next successor of Peter and when it may happen.

We should refute any suggestion that either His Holiness Benedict XVI will soon die, or that Pope Francis will resign, or who their successor to the Petrine office may be.

We cannot benefit from such speculation, and it only fuels divisiveness in our Church, thus advancing the devil's work.

On a similar note, we must refute media outlets and those who suggest that a priest, Bishop or Cardinal is "Anti-Francis" I can assure you that no Bishop, especially those who are Ordinaries, are "Anti-Francis" no matter how severe their contentions in theology, ecclesiology, liturgy or otherwise may be.

We, as Roman Catholics, must be faithful, respectful and loyal to our Holy Father; we must trust in His decision-making and view His decisions and His statements in their entirety, not just in the context of a social media post, headline or news article.

Furthermore, we must give the same unwavering respect and loyalty to our ordinary Bishops, for within them and their mortal frailties lies Christ within each Diocese of our Most Holy Church.

We must trust that the Lord will decide when, who, and how, for only the Lord knows the day and time.

John-Paul Romano is a Catholic social and political commentator and businessman who resides in Canberra; he is a regular contributor to Vox Fidei.