control,” said Stefano Fontana, director of the Cardinal Van Thuan International Observa- tory on the Social Doctrine of the Church. The policies the church has


supported, the professor add- ed, “either by proposing them itself or by remaining silent about their negative aspects, have caused great damage.” A large part of that com-


plicity and silence owes itself to church dependence on gov- ernment funding — something that has grown under Francis and a reality exposed when the Trump administration effec- tively shuttered the U.S. Agen- cy for International Develop- ment (USAID) in February. Some of the strongest pro-


tests came from the Vatican and U.S. bishops, including an ill-judged and unprecedented intervention by Francis, who wrote an open letter criticizing the Trump administration’s policy on illegal migration. Catholic charities have


received millions of dollars from USAID, and probably many other similar agencies around the world, affecting the church’s moral voice. Francis has been mysterious-


ly partial to those whose views are diametrically opposed to the church and has freely re- ceived in private audience such figures as philanthropist Alex Soros, former President Bill Clinton, and pro-abortion Catholic politicians such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi. He has had little


time for right-wing politicians and has never granted inter- views to conservative media.


Tight Circle Within the Vatican,


he mostly consulted a 64 NEWSMAX | APRIL 2025 BECCIU


coterie of close advisers, creat- ing a parallel governing struc- ture and resulting in surprising changes that have taken many cardinals by surprise, perhaps the most significant being when he arbitrarily amended the catechism to fully reject the death penalty. Much of Francis’ pontifi-


cate can be read through his appointments. Occasionally, he has promoted worthy can- didates, such as Cardinal Pier- battista Pizzaballa, a popular and able Franciscan whom he appointed the patriarch of Je- rusalem. But at other times he has


ignored protocol and person- ally handpicked bishops, often liberal and controversial, such as Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago and Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington, D.C. His other choices would often hail from the periphery, and more often than not, tended to be churchmen of dubious mor- al character. Regarding structural re-


forms of the Roman Curia, the pope has merged several dicast- eries into “super-dicasteries,” demoting the once supreme doctrinal office and promoting evangelization instead. He overhauled Vatican com-


munications and successfully reformed some aspects of Vati- can finances, even as scandals continued to mount under his watch. One led to the trial and un- precedented convic- tion of embezzlement of one of his closest collaborators, Cardi- nal Angelo Becciu. A Sardinian diplomat, Becciu has always maintained his in- nocence and insisted Francis knew about all his actions.


In many ways Francis was


his own worst enemy in this regard. He allowed himself to be hampered by an “old guard” unwilling to change their man- agement of finances for fear of exposing them, and by his own autocratic management style that critics say has fostered a climate of fear, especially of ret- ribution and demoralization. His formal structural over- haul of the Roman Curia,


ALAMY


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