Saturday, August 2, 2025
  • Who’sWho Africa AWARDS
  • About Time Africa Magazine
  • Contact Us
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • Magazine
  • World News

Home » World News » Sensing he is Close to Death, Pope Francis Moves to Protect His Legacy as Battle For Succession Will be Highly Politicized

Sensing he is Close to Death, Pope Francis Moves to Protect His Legacy as Battle For Succession Will be Highly Politicized

February 18, 2025
in World News
0
545
SHARES
4.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

ROME — Pope Francis is seriously worried about his health after being hospitalized with severe bronchitis, and is rushing to tie up loose ends ahead of the battle to succeed him.

The pope was admitted to a special ward earlier this month in Gemelli Hospital in Rome with a respiratory infection, and he has since been forced to cancel a number of public appearances.

It’s the latest health crisis for the 88-year-old pontiff, who had part of a lung removed as a young man and has become increasingly fragile in recent years. The Holy See press office has trickled out continuous updates, and on Monday said the pope’s bronchitis had advanced to a “polymicrobial infection” with a “complex clinical picture.”

According to two people familiar with the matter, Francis has been suffering from intense pain and has privately expressed certainty he won’t make it this time. On Sunday, doctors at Gemelli distressed the pope by barring him from delivering his regular morning Angelus sermon, which he has rarely missed, even when hospitalized, said one of the people and a third person. He is now acting entirely on “doctors’ orders,” said one of them.

ReadAlso

Catholic bishops from Asia, Africa, Latin America demand climate justice

Women Diaconate, Priestly Ordination: Pope Leo’s first curial appointment signals continuity with Francis on women in Church


The pope initially resisted going to hospital but was told in no uncertain terms that he was at risk of dying if he stayed in his room in the Vatican, the second person added.

As his health has deteriorated over the last month, Francis has also moved to complete key initiatives and appoint sympathetic figures to key posts, following a progressive-tinted papacy marked by bitter ideological divisions.

ADVERTISEMENT

Since he became pope in 2013, Francis has aimed to make the Church more inclusive, opening up key roles to women and LGBT+ people. While that has provoked furious reaction from many conservatives, liberals complain that the reforms have been insufficient. Meanwhile, the pope’s efforts to put an end to rampant child abuse by clerics have produced mixed results.

Papal succession will be political
On Feb. 6, before he was hospitalized, he extended the term of the Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Re as dean of the College of Cardinals, a role that will oversee some preparations for a potential conclave, the secretive gathering that determines the selection of a new pope. The move, which controversially sidestepped a scheduled vote on the next dean by top cardinals, was intended to ensure that the process plays out according to Francis’s wishes, the people said.

Re, a longtime Vatican operator, is too old to participate in the conclave himself. Nevertheless, he will be a pivotal figure in the behind-closed-doors discussions that often take place before the conclave. That Francis selected him as dean instead of a younger candidate suggests he wanted to keep a friendly face in the role who would defend his legacy, said one of the people.

“The run-up to the conclave is more important as that’s where lobbying goes on,” the person said.

Ahead of the 2013 conclave that elected him pope, Francis himself reportedly benefitted from the influence of a group of cardinals who were too old to participate in the proceedings but nevertheless held sway over the outcome.

Re’s continuation in the role will also see him deliver funeral rites for Francis should he die. The pope has privately joked that Re will be “kinder” to him than other candidates, a second person added.

The Holy See’s press office declined to comment.

Before his health took a turn for the worse, Francis was navigating a politically sensitive moment. Earlier this month, he issued an extraordinary rebuke of United States Vice President JD Vance’s characterization of Ordo Amoris, a theological concept relating to love that Vance used to justify President Donald Trump’s migrant policy. The papal pushback triggered fury from the White House, raising the prospect of a highly politicized succession battle should Francis die.

“They’ve already influenced European politics, they’d have no problem influencing the conclave,” said one close observer of Vatican politics, referring to the Trump administration. “They might be looking for someone less confrontational.”

On Saturday, the pontiff also sped up his unprecedented reformist move to appoint a nun, Sister Raffaella Petrini, as the next and first woman governor of Vatican City, announcing that Petrini’s term would begin on March 1. That date was earlier than some expected and triggered unease about his health among allies, according to one high-ranking Church official. However, it might also have been a coincidence: the current governor, Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, will turn 80 that day, making him ineligible for the role.

Even if Francis survives his latest illness, observers see this as a likely turning point as Francis shifts focus from making headway on reform to locking it in.

“He may not die now but of course he eventually will,” said one Vatican official. “We all die — and he’s an 88-year-old man with lung problems.”

POLITICO

Tags: Holy SeePope FrancisVatican
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

What is Polymicrobial Respiratory infection that Pope Francis is battling?

Next Post

Egypt Is Developing Plan to Rebuild Gaza, Countering Trump’s Plan

You MayAlso Like

News

Ex-president found guilty of bribery and witness tampering

July 29, 2025
Israel-Hamas

Israel Airdrops Food Into Gaza As It Rebuffs Famine Claims

July 27, 2025
Middle-East

The Taliban are remaking Afghanistan in their image. It should have us all worried

July 25, 2025
Middle-East

Hundreds Dead From Hunger in Gaza, Including Dozens of Children

July 25, 2025
Thai soldiers are seen during a visit by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, following armed clashes on a disputed border area between Cambodia and Thailand, at a makeshift camp in Surin province, 30 km (19 miles) from the Thai-Cambodia border, April 27, 2011. Thai and Cambodian troops clashed with heavy artillery for a sixth day on Wednesday near two disputed 12th-century Hindu temples, the Cambodian defense ministry said following a night of shelling that killed a Thai villager. To date, the fighting has killed at least 14 people and sent more than 50,000 into evacuation centres. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang (THAILAND - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT)
World News

The Fighting Between Thailand and Cambodia Isn’t About Territory

July 25, 2025
UAE

How Saudi Arabia’s Sleeping Prince was kept alive For 20 years on a hospital ventilator

July 20, 2025
Next Post

Egypt Is Developing Plan to Rebuild Gaza, Countering Trump’s Plan

USAID: America Launches Investigation Into Aid Funds For Nigeria, Amid Claim of Boko Haram sponsorship

Discussion about this post

Dr. Ben Nwoye’s Hiatus and Return: Fear Grips the Ousted APC Leadership in Enugu

BLACK SUNDAY: Islamic Terrorists attack Catholic Church, killing at least 34 Worshipers 

New Male Contraceptive Pill Tested

Dangote daughters take on growing leadership roles as billionaire tycoon steps back

Breakthrough HIV jab to be supplied to millions at knock-down price

Kidnapped Nigerian Catholic Priest Regains Freedom after 51 Days in Captivity

  • British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

    1239 shares
    Share 496 Tweet 310
  • Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

    1065 shares
    Share 426 Tweet 266
  • Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

    969 shares
    Share 388 Tweet 242
  • ‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

    902 shares
    Share 360 Tweet 225
  • Crisis echoes, fears grow in Amechi Awkunanaw in Enugu State

    735 shares
    Share 294 Tweet 184
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

April 13, 2023

Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

December 27, 2022
Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

September 22, 2023
‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

March 21, 2023
Chief Mrs Ebelechukwu, wife of Willie Obiano, former governor of Anambra state

NIGERIA: No, wife of Biafran warlord, Bianca Ojukwu lied – Ebele Obiano:

0

SOUTH AFRICA: TO LEAVE OR NOT TO LEAVE?

0
kelechi iheanacho

TOP SCORER: IHEANACHA

0
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

WHAT CAN’TBE TAKEN AWAY FROM JONATHAN

0

Rebuttal To Chief John Idenuwa Akugbe: Truth Is Not Calumny—It Is Courage

August 1, 2025

WAFCON: CAF Reportedly Sacks Referees Director

August 1, 2025

Dr. Ben Nwoye’s Hiatus and Return: Fear Grips the Ousted APC Leadership in Enugu

August 1, 2025

Aboh Monarch Extols Diaspora Contributions To Nation Building

July 31, 2025

ABOUT US

Time Africa Magazine

TIME AFRICA MAGAZINE is an African Magazine with a culture of excellence; a magazine without peer. Nearly a third of its readers hold advanced degrees and include novelists, … READ MORE >>

SECTIONS

  • Aviation
  • Column
  • Crime
  • Europe
  • Featured
  • Gallery
  • Health
  • Interviews
  • Israel-Hamas
  • Lifestyle
  • Magazine
  • Middle-East
  • News
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • Russia-Ukraine
  • Science
  • Special Report
  • Sports
  • TV/Radio
  • UAE
  • UK
  • US
  • World News

Useful Links

  • AllAfrica
  • Channel Africa
  • El Khabar
  • The Guardian
  • Cairo Live
  • Le Republicain
  • Magazine: 9771144975608
  • Subscribe to TIME AFRICA biweekly news magazine

    Enjoy handpicked stories from around African continent,
    delivered anywhere in the world

    Subscribe

    • About Time Africa Magazine
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS

    © 2025 Time Africa Magazine - All Right Reserved. Time Africa is a trademark of Times Associates, registered in the U.S, & Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
    • Politics
    • Column
    • Interviews
    • Gallery
    • Lifestyle
    • Special Report
    • Sports
    • TV/Radio
    • Aviation
    • Health
    • Science
    • World News

    © 2025 Time Africa Magazine - All Right Reserved. Time Africa is a trademark of Times Associates, registered in the U.S, & Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.