A corollary of this is his drive against tradition. Pope Francis realises perfectly well that the only real obstacle to his revolution comes from traditionalists in the Catholic Church, the only element with any backbone prepared to recognise that the emperor has no clothes. Hence the campaign he has waged throughout his pontificate against so-called “rigid” and “backward” Catholics, whom he derides at every opportunity. He repeated this theme just a few weeks ago, when he said what a scandal it was that young priests should be going to ecclesiastical tailors to order soutanes and traditional vestments. We all know what the real scandals in the modern Church are, but the only ones that bother Pope Francis are those of priests following tradition.