Interesting article. The Pope’s comment about the “wolves” in his first address came to my mind, too. Of course, he had been in the Vatican in one capacity or another for decades, so he would certainly have been aware of the wolves inside the gates, as well as out in the world.
I don’t know whether it’s an accute illness or just a sudden worsening of the accumulated pains of age, but whatever it is, he clearly feels that he is not only too weak to continue physically, but too weak to continue to fight against the wolves and that if he remains, they will somehow overcome him and thus be free to savage the Church.
I see him not only hoping to hand over the flock to a stronger shepherd, but perhaps hoping to draw the wolves off after him. And I think that they will continue to attack him, even after he is no longer Pope; but I also don’t think he is going to live much longer. However, perhaps they will be distracted for awhile, until they can get the measure of his successor.
I know the liberal wolves are going to do everything they can to undermine the conclave, just as the Dems used every conceivable dirty trick to steal the last US election. They are so convinced of the rightness of their “progressive” cause that they are not bound by any ethical concerns; and they don’t see the Church as anything that has to do with God, but as a political institution that gives them enormous power. Thus, they’re not afraid to act in ways that could not even remotely be considered Christian (or even legal, by most standards!). I think one of the reasons BXVI renounced the Papacy at such short notice was to give them as little time as possible to coordinate their strategy.
I am really afraid, not of the world, but of what might happen in the Church now.
he clearly feels that he is not only too weak to continue physically, but too weak to continue to fight against the wolves and that if he remains, they will somehow overcome him and thus be free to savage the Church.
It certainly appears that way. Doubtful he would break with papal tradition without very serious reasons.
I know the liberal wolves are going to do everything they can to undermine the conclave, just as the Dems used every conceivable dirty trick to steal the last US election.
Do you mean liberal cardinals? I have read that the composition of the College of Cardinals has shifted toward greater orthodoxy under JPII and Benedict XVI. (Although some of their appointments could turn out to be wolves in sheep's clothing.) Cardinal Scola would seem to be the most likely choice if the goal is to continue along the path that John Paul and Benedict have established.