It's kind of hard to believe it's been 8 years since Pope Benedict resigned from the papacy. Even to this day, there are conspiracy theories circulating as to his motivation for making such a move. Some say he was forced out by powerful groups within the Church. I haven't read up on these theories enough to make an evaluation of them.
If you theorize that Pope Benedict was forced out and replaced with Pope Francis by globalists looking to further their world-altering agenda, then you could be forgiven for doing so given the many statements made by Pope Francis over the years which seem to approve of the overall leftist agenda. Admittedly, he has not gone completely "globalist", but in many aspects he has.
Among other things, Pope Francis talks constantly about global warming, globalizing the economy and having supranational organizations rule over us, socialism, reducing individual freedom, the evils of capitalism, and so on. Since Covid-19, Pope Francis seems to have made the disease a staple of his pontificate.
In his 8 years as pope, Francis has called out traditional Catholics in many ways, yet he rarely does the same for liberals in the Church. He has told Catholics to stop breeding like rabbits and to "get over" abortion, homosexuality and contraception. He has cracked down on the Traditional Latin Mass. Lucky for us Pope Benedict made it more available, not less.
The current Supreme Pontiff seems obsessed with environmentalism. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be within the context of Catholicism. The Catholic understanding of the topic is that humans are the greatest of God's creation on Earth and that the Earth and her resources are here for our use and growth. The reason we don't pollute unnecessarily or waste things is because is can harm our fellow man, not because of some obligation towards Mother Earth.
The pontiff has gone so far as to condemn air conditioners (Laudato si', para. 55) and has said the world is starting to look like "an immense pile of filth". These weren't off-the-cuff remarks of which he is quite fond, but are found one of his several environmentalism encyclicals.
Although there is plenty of disagreement regarding the proper way to deal with Covid-19 to minimize damage from all angles, Pope Francis decided to write an op-ed in the New York Times in which he praises any and all lockdown protocols and condemns those who disagree as being unconcerned about others. Of course, there cannot be any legitimate disagreement on that topic. You either care about people or your don't.
Pope Francis has become well-known for his airplane interviews in which he says confusing and seemingly unCatholic statements. Sometimes these statements are "clarified" by his entourage, sometimes they are not.
Following the publication of his exhortation Amoris laetitia, a group of 4 prominent cardinals issued what's called a Dubia in which they sought clarification on several points in the encyclical as it related to the reception of communion for people who were civilly divorced and remarried. The pope refused to answer their dubia, even though it was straightforward. According to Wikipedia, some have said that he refused to respond because he wanted to emphasize a more pastoral approach to these issues. This is a nonsensical statement. No matter how "pastoral" one might be, he cannot teach error either by omission or commission in order to do so. It makes no sense.
More recently, the pope has seemed to make veiled negative comments regarding Former President Donald Trump and others seemingly in favor of President Joe Biden.
These are just a tiny fraction of the confusing, unsettling things Pope Francis has done since ascending to the Papal Throne. Has he done anything good? Yes he has. He has spoken out clearly against abortion in many cases. He has spoken against the newfangled gender ideologies going around on leftist campuses. These are good things. But to be honest, these are the minimum things we would expect from the Holy Father.
Let's hope Pope Francis listens to people who only have his best interests at heart. The cardinals who wrote the dubia aren't trying to "trap" him or make him look bad, they are trying to be shepherds to their people. Those who tell the pope that his comments are confusing and controversial aren't doing it to bash him or be hard-hearted, they simply want teachings that make sense and represent the Catholic faith.
In the next 8 years, Pope Francis must listen more to his critics because in general they are the daily Mass-goers, they are the people who are serious about the faith, they want to grow in their relationship with God, and all they are asking for is a Holy Father who reflects this.
