What happened to the conservative Catholicism? The question, circumscribing the discourse to our national borders, can be valid both for the “Church” context and for the political-institutional one. But if it is true that the weight ofchurch (and of secular Catholicism) decreased with the advent of contemporary society, it is also true that what little influence remained lies in the hands of the so-called “progressive” fringes.
The plastic demonstration also came from the challenge for the Quirinale: Andrea Riccardi, one of the names mentioned in the early stages of the discussion on the future of the Colle, is the founder of Sant’Egidio, a reality traditionally associated with the center-left. The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella himself comes from the left wing of the Christian Democrats and from the Olive Tree and has often remarked on his being Catholic but tending to a more progressive vision.
Paradoxically, a name that can be compared to popularism Catholic, as regards the “quirinabili”, was that of Pier Ferdinando Casini, who is nevertheless a member of parliament elected from the ranks of the Democratic Party. In reality, the center-right a name connoted by “Ratzingerism” did it: that of the former President of the Senate Marcello Pera who nevertheless never knew the proof of the tightness of the Chamber and who never appears to have been the subject of real negotiation among the players in the game (like Riccardi to tell the truth).
The question is political, but not only – as mentioned – in the literal sense of the term. In reality it is a general phenomenon which, if it concerns the ruling class, certainly also directly concerns the Church as an institution. The example of the figures considered expendable for the Colle is only one of the possible sides: the background is that the so-called “right” Catholicism is perceived as slowly regressing. In return, as Matteo Matzuzzi noted in his long study for The paper, the route taken by the composite Italian Catholic world, whether ecclesiastical or secular, seems decidedly to lean towards the left.
The occasion for the definitive blow against what the chronicles, especially at the time of the last government chaired by Silvio Berlusconi, defined “ruinism”, could be the Episcopal Synod wanted by Pope francesco. During the synodal journey, the Italian Bishops’ Conference could lean towards new organizational forms and new doctrinal guidelines: it is foreseen that the “outgoing Church” – the formula dear to Jorge Mario Bergoglio – will become paradigmatic.
And then there is the question of the new president of the CEI, with the imminent expiry of the mandate of the dialoguing and moderate Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti: the name of the cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, which in turn comes from Sant’Egidio and which always draws its requests from progressivism (albeit dialectical), is so favored as to seem almost cumbersome. It has long been said that Zuppi can directly aspire to the throne of Peter.
The protagonism, in short, is the traction of a cultural current only. And this net of the correct use of political terminology in ecclesiology: it is never a good thing. The health of the other camp is what it is: a successor to the cardinal Camillo Ruini there is not. And Ratzingerism came under attack with the story of the alleged “incorrect behavior” of which Benedict XVI is accused in Germany.
The Catholics conservatives, again, they have slipped into the dichotomy “vaccinism” – “non-vaccinism”, lending their side to the spread of the ideas of “adult Catholics” who are now enjoying good and bad times on the level of public opinion. The Synod is upon us and those who believe that the Catholic Church must be profoundly transformed will have no rivals along its path.