Church To Retain Francis As Pope After He Dies

Rome, August 27 – Roman Catholic Church officials are looking to leverage the popularity of the current pope beyond his lifetime, fearful that any successors to Francis will not possess his charisma, warmth, and love for the downtrodden. The College of Cardinals, which would choose the next pope, is considering a proposal to retain Francis as pope even beyond his death, and await his return to life.

The proposal, put forth by Cardinal James Dolan of the New York Archdiocese, would ordain that upon Francis’s death, whenever that occurs, the College would not formally convene to elect another pope. Instead, Francis will remain installed in office, and no one else will assume the role. Church policy after his death will be determined by a Council of Cardinals that the current pope will appoint before his death, and that twelve-person body will in turn appoint a successor to each member when he dies or steps down. That method will persist until Francis comes back to life. Francis is now 77 years old and in good health, presumably giving him time to appoint the body in a considered fashion. His attitude toward the proposal is not yet known, but it will require his approval to become canonical.

The leadership model in the proposal is not without precedent. When the Church was first established, according to Christian teachings, its original leader also died, and his followers waited for him to come a second time. A hierarchical leadership model was established in the leader’s absence, a structure that gave rise to the current system of bishops, cardinals, and archbishops.

The shift would require an adjustment of Church doctrine, but obviously any approval of the measure would naturally endorse the change. Previously, only the founding leader has been the subject of an anticipated Second Coming, and adding Francis as an object of the same anticipation carries important theological implications that the College – and the rank-and-file of the Catholic world – are not expected to take lightly.

However, Dolan believes the controversy, if any, will peter out in time. “Under Pope Francis the Church is under solid, charismatic leadership and is unafraid to address challenges that previous popes did not see fit to address.  I think our flocks will understand that we cannot expect such a person to come along again so quickly when Francis is gone, and that consequently, we need to retain his vision for the Church far beyond his current lifetime,” he said.

“Select individuals may, after he is gone, experience communication from the departed Francis, and those communications could be collected into works,” suggested Dolan. “Those works could also include a retelling of people’s encounters with the living Francis to bring out the spiritual or moral lessons they thought he wished to convey.”

“You know, like a testament of sorts,” he added. “Say, that has a nice ring to it.”