Many in the Vatican want Pope Francis dead

Dec 23, 2015

By Robert Mickens
That wild claim was recently made by Francesca Chaouqui, the ‘chatty cathy’ who’s looking at the possibility of several years in the “hoosegow” (tribunal court) for her alleged role in passing confidential documents to journalists in the so-called VatiLeaks 2 scandal.

“I’m in trouble because of a squalid power struggle between cardinals,” said Miss Chaouqui, a former member of a Vatican financial advisory board set up by Pope Francis. She added that among those red-hatted wonders are men “who hope Papa Bergoglio dies either one day or the next.”

She said, ominously, that one such cardinal told her that popes come and go, but the curia remains.

So there you have it.

But most people seem to be taking Chaouqui’s remarks with a pinch of salt, considering many of the other outlandish and caustic comments for which she became famous even before getting embroiled in the Vatican leaks scandal.

Nonetheless, that does not change the reality that there are cardinals, bishops and other important people with  vested interests in how the Church and the Vatican are run and who would prefer someone other than Francis as pope.

And how!

For example, it was widely reported a couple of weeks ago that Archbishop Luigi Negri of Ferrara in Northern Italy, had been overheard in a phone conversation on a passenger train basically stating his displeasure with the Jesuit Pope — and in rather unkind terms.

The prelate, who is considered one of Italy’s most conservative bishops, has denied that he ever spoke ill of the reigning pontiff and even offered to personally renew his allegiance to Francis

Another pinch of salt?

One thing is certain. Pope Francis, who turned 79 on Thursday, December 17, faces opposition from many in the hierarchy. That does not mean any among them want to slip him a Luciani Latte, as a friend blasphemously calls poisoned coffee.

The German current affairs magazine, Focus, last month  published an open letter to the Pope written by someone (from Germany) who allegedly is a former high-ranking official in the Roman Curia.

The letter is excoriating and merciless.

Among other things it accuses Francis of being anti-intellectual, authoritarian, populist, anti-clerical and practicing bogus simplicity.

The author — and who knows if he is really a former or current German official in the Vatican? — says he wrote the missive because he was upset by the pre-Christmas address the Pope gave last year to the Roman Curia. It was the one in which he listed all the potential spiritual and moral ills that can afflict those who work in this central Church bureaucracy.

The ex-official says Francis’ talk was “harsh” and “unjust.”

Stay tuned. The Pope is giving another one pre-Christmas talk to the curia soon.--Global Pulse