Does New Motu Proprio Aim At Keeping Elderly Liberals in Place?

Pope Francis' February 15 motu proprio Learn to Take Your Leave does not change much according to the canon lawyer Ed Condon. Now all bishops are asked to submit their resignations at the age of 75, while before nuncios and curials saw their positions lapse automatically upon their reaching a certain age.

Writing for the Catholic News Agency (February 16) Condon finds it however odd that a motu proprio on retiring speaks more about staying on although it calls it exceptional, "Under Pope Francis, this exception is becoming the norm."

Condon mentions Francis' aged liberal buddies like Coccopalmerio, Baldisseri, Ravasi or Piero Marini, "Those who are expected to retire with grace at the end of their terms, like Cardinal Müller, are so exceptional as to be newsworthy."

Condon's crushing conclusion, "As with several of the Franciscan reforms of the Curia, the distance between theory and practice is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore, or explain."

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