“He is not the valid Pope.”
Watched Raymond Arroyo’s interview with Benedict’s secretary/assistant Georg Ganswein a few days ago. (Ganswein’s exile/punishment began right after Benedict’s death.) He said Benedict would shake his head in a negative, incredulous way at the idea that his resignation was forced by a homosexual cabal or was somehow invalid. Francis was elected in a legitimate conclave and when we wanna engage in conspiracy theories and pretend he wasn’t, we’re running from the problems in the Church and playing games. We can’t form little cocoons but must stay with the Church where Christ is and deal with the issue of a Pope who seems a bit overwhelmed by Modernist errors in the Church and the insanity of the world. If you wanna argue Francis has abdicated the papacy by errors, I disagree, but respect your right to make the argument. I think Francis is clever enough to retain the papacy by shrouding some of his words in vagaries and not going over a certain line. We must PRAY and sacrifice for Francis and the Church and trust that Jesus is only gonna let things go so far and is firmly in command though He may seem to be sleeping in the boat. It’s a trying situation in the Church. Francis still says many orthodox things. But there are also words and actions that have me and many others saying, “What?”
I'm in agreement with just about everything in your post. On Pope Francis still saying "many orthodox things" it is my sense that he sounds more orthodox when various official sermons and pronouncements are published in his name or read by him because others in his staff are writing them for him. When he speaks off the cuff or publishes a document on a topic near and dear to him (like the environment, toleration of syncretism and a lax approach to moral precepts), the real, unorthodox Francis shines through.