The coffin of Pope Francis will be on display from today in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and the funeral will take place on Saturday, April 26. Guesting on TV Vijesti's Boje jutra, Don Robert Tonsati, Chancellor of the Diocese of Kotor, emphasized that Pope Francis will be remembered for his style of papacy.
"All the previous popes, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II, are truly great popes who brought about key changes in the church and their voice had great value on a global level. However, what distinguishes Pope Francis from all of them is a freedom in communication, a directness, a sense of humor. When he was elected, he said that they had elected a pope from the end of the world. So, he was characterized by humor. That directness in communication is something, I would say, that actually won the hearts of so many people. But, to be honest, that directness and his way of, if I may say so, unvarnished speech, that freedom in exchanging opinions and in expressing his opinions, which were once ad hoc, often generated numerous frustrations, you know, because the pope is always viewed by so many different people from different cultural and even religious backgrounds, so he sometimes knew how to throw some of his close associates off balance," Tonsati pointed out.
The Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of Montenegro to the Holy See, Milica Petrović, pointed out to Boje jutra that, together with colleagues from the diplomatic corps, she attended prayer gatherings in front of the Basilica as a sign of farewell and expression of respect for the great man and moral authority of the modern era.
"He was a good connoisseur of Montenegro, thanks to the coincidence that he was ordained by the Argentine Archbishop Emil Ognjanović, who is of Montenegrin origin, and the Pope was very happy to emphasize this in meetings with Montenegrin officials. The Pope last appeared in public on Easter, the day before his death. Still weak and having difficulty pronouncing words, he entrusted the reading of the traditional blessing to the city and the world to an associate, and even in his last message he did not forget our region. He wished that Easter would encourage efforts to promote harmony in the Western Balkans, alleviate tensions and crises," Petrović pointed out.
Historian Petar Lekić said that Pope Francis will be remembered for his attitude towards marginalized groups, but also the Orthodox Church.
"What fascinates me as a historian is the hand extended to the Eastern Orthodox Church that he wholeheartedly extended throughout his pontificate. Namely, the year 2013 was the anniversary of the Edict of Milan, meaning the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, and then he sent a message to his envoy in Niš to establish even stronger contacts with the Eastern Orthodox Church. He also met with the Russian Patriarch in 2016, where he again came out in defense of conservative positions for the protection of the traditional way of life. He was a loophole there because there was no meeting between the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Patriarchate. So he tried to create all the bridges with the Eastern Church and because of that the Eastern Churches highly value him and are sending condolences these days," Lekić pointed out.
After nine days of mourning, a conclave will be convened within 15 to 20 days at the most, at which the cardinals will elect a new pope.
“There are 135 cardinal electors. A cardinal is the highest church dignitary in the Catholic Church, and in order to have the right to vote and be elected pope, he must not be 80 years old. So if he turns 80, by that very act, regardless of the fact that he is a cardinal, he no longer has the right to vote. The cardinals meet in that conclave. Maybe at the beginning, there will be, in theory, several different candidates. Maybe they first discuss some opinion among themselves about how it should be, who it should be, but what is a very well-known saying in Rome and which is actually very true, regarding potential candidates that are usually mentioned in the media, 'Those who enter the conclave as pope, leave as cardinals'. You also see Karol Wojtyla, the Polish pope who said of the Eastern Church that they are the two lungs of Europe, the East and the West, so he was an absolute surprise. After 400 years of Italians, a Pole has arrived. Now an Argentine, from the end of the world, as he himself said, and he is was a surprise. Here I can say, I was in the square at the moment when his election was announced, when Jorge Mario Bergoglio appeared, the Italians were in shock. Who is it now? How come? So we didn't count on him," Tonsati pointed out.
Bonus video:
