(ETH) – Fears are growing over the current health of Pope Francis and the survival of the Catholic Church itself. According to recent reports, Francis was forced to cancel three recent events at very short notice over the weekend.
This came after his ongoing issues with sciatica struck the 84-year-old again. This report comes from a recent report by Matteo Bruni, who is a spokesman for the Vatican. The spokesman also confirmed that he wasn’t able to return because of this condition that has returned. Francis was unable to deliver Mass on Sunday, as well as attend a meeting with the diplomatic corps on Monday, which has now been rearranged.
According to insiders, the Pope’s health has become a concern, including Vatican author Lynda Telford, who stated that she was fearful for the future of the Church if Francis was to stand down. According to Express, the Vatican could struggle greatly to maintain order if someone similar to Francis’ predecessor, Benedict, took over.
According to Telford, Benedict’s traditionalist views “put off” those with a more modern mindset who could be tempted to join the Catholic Church as Francis has reportedly been praised widely for installing a liberal agenda within the Vatican such as his recent rule to give women greater powers within the Church.
Telford warns that the work that Francis has carried out would be lost if a Benedict-type pope enters the Vatican. She went on to say that Benedict and his supporters would be “terrified” by some of Francis’ choices while Pope, adding: “They really would not like the idea at all [of women in the Church], but Francis is aware that things have to change otherwise the Church will go under.”
She went further to state “He is a very strong traditionalist and in the Vatican, there are far too many of them, these backward-looking traditionalists who don’t want any kind of change. “I think of course it is all leading to the fact that if you free women of contraception, with a marriage to a priest even,
you’re leading inevitably to the female priesthood or at least a part-female priesthood, which is a terrifying thought for most people who are in the higher echelons of the Church right now.”
She added: “At a time when I think the Church needs to change, it is losing the faithful in many countries now, it needs desperately to change and accept the differences in the change of position of women throughout the world. “I’m sure Pope Francis is aware of this and he’s also extremely popular with the people.”
