Will Pope Adolf Go To War?

It didn't end up well...

The demotion of Cardinal Burke has been finally announced over the weekend. It is, seen from Francis' perspective, an obligatory stage. You cannot demolish the annulment process, and make of it a parody as much as you will be allowed to, as long as the relevant Congregation is led by someone who actually understands what he is doing. In order to make of the annulment a pig's breakfast it will be necessary to remove people with competence, and replace them with people who are as pliable as they are incompetent. The Communists have used this methods for decades, and one must say it can be made to work for a while; unless, that is, the entire construction implodes under the weight of its own stupidity.

On one hand, then, Francis will have it easier. On the other hand, he has one problem more. And he must slowly decide – or perhaps has already decided – where he will stop, or whether it's going to be the all-out fall-out.

But he has a problem. A huge one. The Church is, you see, still a bit different from a Communist dictatorship. Her boss is not Stalin or Kruschev, but Christ. Beside the invincible strength of the Divine Opponent it is difficult, very difficult, to intimidate people who are more afraid of what Christ will do with them if they comply with Francis' wishes, than of what Francis will do to them if they don't.

Burke has been removed and has been, for Vatican standards, harshly demoted. But in doing so, Francis has launched a boomerang that might well end up right on his teeth. Burke will now be even more one of the very few everyone looks to when Francis says or plans something very stupid. Burke is not an aggressive man, and he is certainly not given to personal attacks. But even Francis' limited intellect realises that Burke can deprive every move of him of every credibility, and make an ass of him by everyone who really cares. I am not entirely sure that this will do him much good.

Then there is the problem of Mueller, and Pell; both of them, still, at the heart of the Vatican machinery, and both of them already very vocal. What will TMAHICH do? Remove them? He would stay there as a petty, vindictive man; and he would be formally inviting influential Cardinals to make a wall against him.

Francis' parable reminds one of so many British Prime Ministers: as they become more and more criticised, they must purge the ranks of the government from the most dangerous opponents; but these ones, and their followers, will increase the ranks of the internal opposition; and the internal opposition will relentlessly gnaw at his credibility and prestige, even when never appearing to attack him openly; until the moment comes when the rebellion is out in the open, and then the PM – and much more so a Pope – is damaged goods anyway, irrespective of the outcome of the fight.

If Francis thinks that he can bend the Church to his will, he is an idiot. A very dangerous one, one that can cause a huge devastation, of course; but still an idiot in the end. Does he think so? Is he so reckless, so evil and most of all, so stupid?

To invade the Church with your own heretical troops is far more difficult than to even invade Russia. Not only are you facing Christ The King instead of General Winter, but you also have to conquer an immense territory, whilst the guerrilla rages all around you and destroys the credibility of your army a bit at a time. The conquering of the German and Austrian territories will be easy; much of the strategic positions in Western Europe and both Americas might well fall; but you will have ferocious guerrilla warfare in these territories, and will go absolutely nowhere in vast parts of Africa and Asia. Napoleon took Spain very rapidly in 1808, with an overwhelming military power. Ask him how much fun he had with it afterwards…

It's not to be done. Better said: it's never to be won. It's madness. It's another operation Barbarossa against an invincible enemy. The only thing he will achieve – if he has such an evil temerity – is to create a huge wasteland around him, scorching continents perhaps. But the war, he will never win.

Will, then, Pope Adolf go to war? As he prepares his ranks and picks his generals, the guerrilla also unavoidably becomes better organised and more determined. Francis himself fuels its ranks. It is simply not to be avoided.

If he had been slower and more subtle, instead of so arrogant and stupid, he might have had better cards, though one wonders if he would have had the time. But he has wanted too much and too soon, and his evil house of cards has now tumbled in the most spectacular way.

As Burke is removed from the Vatican ranks, he takes place in the very midst of the Army of Christ. As Francis keeps closing his ranks, and kicking out at some point Mueller, Pell, Piacenza and many others, he can make a huge wasteland around him, and a scorched earth policy might well be in accordance with his petty, vindictive inclinations. But he will loose in the end.

An idiot who thinks himself Napoleon, or Hitler, may well be about to invade Russia like it's 1812, or 1941, and think where they have failed, he will win. He might not be as stupid as that, but the drama of the people like Francis is that they deem themselves superior intellects.

There's no saying what an idiot could do, who thinks he is Napoleon.

M