Specialist of the Vatican, the northerner Michel Cool releases a book on Pope Francis

It was released on May 6, 2025, the day before the conclave. THE new book by northern Michel Cool, Vatican specialistdraws up Portrait of pope Francisjust deceased, over the 15 chapters and 15 themes. The northerner, residing in Gennes-Ivergny in Pas-de-Calais, has been working on this work since September 2024. But the death of the pontiff on April 21 accelerated the closure, for a battery outing at the time of the conclave which must designate a new pope.

Poor, migrants, reform, homosexuals, ecology …

The poor, migrants, ecology, peripheries, church reform, sexual abuse, power management, homosexuals, or diplomacy, the Pope’s position, his strong gestures, his words are dissected here with an analysis of a fine connoisseur of the cogs of the Vatican.

There have already been many books on this pope. What do you get new?

I have read a lot of works concerning him. Many are obsessed with the fact of classifying it between progressive and conservative, modern and old, left or right. I was tired of this Manichean, binary vision. It is paradoxical, he who always wanted to escape it. He never wanted to be imprisoned in a role. He remained free. His way of being, to speak, his gestures, he remained himself. Perhaps even the papal function has strengthened its freedom, especially spiritually. She disturbed, she was not always understood. This common thread that left the beaten track, I made the sense of my book.

What do you remember in particular from this pontificate?

I start the work with its proximity to the poor, a marker of his pontificate. His desire to reform the Church is also strong. I retain its opening to the world. All this is the music of Vatican II, that we had heard less with John Paul II and Benoît XVI. It is undoubtedly because he is Argentinian, in Latin America, people are more immersed in Vatican II. I presented 15 themes where I seemed to have brought something new.

What message do you want to deliver with this work?

It is a book that challenges us on our ability to be free, as François has been. He was an example in this sense.

Have you ever had the opportunity to meet him?

On March 30, 2016, I gave him my book in hand specific to Rome, for my 60th birthday! I was able to talk to him during an audience. He laughed like a child when he read the title of the book “Tango in Rome”! I said to him, “Not everyone is ready to” dance the Gospel ‘, you will have difficulty “. He told me he knew it. Then, he sort of sent me on a mission around 3 verbs, as he liked to do: testify, explain, pray. He said to me: “Continue to testify to your desire to live the Gospel, to explain my way and to pray! »»

You had already written a first book in 2015. Between your 2 works, 10 years have passed. Have you had surprises of what you had perceived from the pope in his election?

What I had not perceived in 2013 was his exercise of very personal, even authoritarian power. He was happy to govern, to be a manager, unlike Benoît XVI. He liked to decide alone, short-circuiting the mediators, which caused many relationship problems with the Roman Curia.

We feel your attachment to this pope. But do you approach the less consensual aspects of this Pope?

Yes of course. There are many positive subjects concerning this pope, but I remain critical. On sexual abuses, he had strong words to denounce, but he also had ambiguous attitudes, by covering for example a Chilean bishop, refusing to receive Jean-Marc Sauvé because he found that the Ciase’s report was going too far. During his visit to Belgium in September 2024, he had unhappy words, comparing the practicing doctors abortion to a lot of killers. In the place of women, he kept a patriarchal vision. On the war in Ukraine, he invited the Ukrainians to take out the white flag …

Your book comes out when the conclave begins. Do you have any predictions on the next Pope? An Italian?

This is the conclusion of my book! My thesis is that it will in any case be an heir to Vatican II. Three profiles are possible. A “John XXIV” evokes the elected representative of the continuity of François, who will continue the reform. The one I baptize “Pierre-Paul” would rather be a “centrist”, a peaceful gathering. It is the profile of the Aggiornamento, which would combine moderate, conservative, reformists. The conclave could also prefer a more classic transition pope with a break in reforms.

What would argue for an Italian pope is that there has been a long time since a Polish, a German and an Argentinian. This would make it possible to make peace with the Roman Curia which has many Italians and which has been “abused” by François. In addition, the international context will weigh. Vatican diplomacy is rather made up of Italians. In a context of global general concern, a profile like Mgr Pietro Parolin can reassure. But concerning the final decision, we have already had surprises, especially with the choice of John Paul II and François! Everything is possible in the Vatican.

Will your next book concern the new Pope?

No, for Salvator, it is Samuel Pruvost who is responsible for it, and it is a huge work because you have to make files for all the “papabiles”! This is what I did in 2013. There, I will respond to the requests to present my book and ensure some conferences.

To read: “François, L’Arienformiste”, Éditions Emmanuel and Salvator, 192 pages, € 14.90.

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