Seine anger
For Pope Francis, Paris was not worth a mass-by Jean-Michel Salvator
Jean-Michel Salvator
Should we formalize the attitude of Pope Francis who carefully avoided visiting the capital and honoring his presence the reopening of Notre-Dame with his presence? “The eldest daughter of the Church” had been used to more respect. We had welcomed Jean-Paul II, who had said three masses in Paris, eleven times. Benoit XVI, an Eucharistic celebration at the Invalides, before spinning the 150th anniversary of the appearance of the Virgin in Lourdes. The Peripheries Pope preferred to abstain. This impasse has its consistency. To maintain that he did not like France is unfair. Didn’t he assign the purple cardinalice to Dominique Mamberti, Jean-Marc Aveline, Francois-Xavier Bustillo and Christophe Pierre? With Philippe Barbarin, Jean-Pierre Ricard, André Vingt-Trois and Paul Poupard, our “contingent” of eminences at proud pace. Admittedly, only the first five will participate in the conclave, the other three being over 80 years old, but it cannot be said that Pope Francis has sought to lessen the French influence. There were as many cardinals under Benoit XVI (from 6 to 8) and a little more under John Paul II (from 8 to 9). At the time of the council, the Church of France had up to eleven representatives in the sacred college.
