In the shadow of St Peter’s

AN UNREFORMED and unreforming papacy will serve only to extend and exacerbate the crisis that has blighted the Catholic Church since the second half of the pontificate of Pope Paul VI, who died in 1978.

This is the pope who openly acknowledged that the papacy itself was the biggest obstacle to Christian unity — the promotion of which was a key objective of Vatican II (1962-65). Since then it has become increasingly evident that a monarchical papacy wedded to reactionary policies is the single biggest stumbling-block to internal reform.

Whoever emerges from the conclave in Rome will find that his pro or anti-reform stance will become the litmus test of his papacy. This is unavoidable given the state the Church is in following a series of devastating scandals.