Orientierung

Dr dear Dr: Are there any incipient signs at present of a Reorientation of Directionality for the next pontificate, anything in the offing?

No, nothing doing at present, nothing except an obscure and garbled rumour. Nothing visible from the communiques of the Secretariat of State and those organisations around the SCV that prepare for such eventualities as the Church's own deep v deep State within a State. Besides one of the problems of the Catholic Church is its very system of leadership by secret ballot at a consistory - so nobody knows who will be pope next time round so as to plan ahead for anything. It might be a Ray Burke caretaker, it might be a solid and institutionally innovative Arthur Roche, or it might be a fiery firebrand like Vincent Nichols - nobody knows until the last ballot is counted. Such is both the strength and weakness of that system over yonder. Nobody knows, no indicators yet of an impending succession struggle, though up to recently the outgoing pope was permitted an "electio per compromissum" if not an outright "electio per designationem", in which he indicated whomsoever cardinal or metropolitan or nuncio he desired for his successor. This is rarely ever used and rarely ever deployed even by outgoing popular popes. It used to be possible, but methinks, according to latest secret reports of a very secretive process, it is now fallen into desuetude just for lack of use. So, No, the answer is no, at least not over here. There was an old rumour last year that the outgoing Pope Francesco the First had himself designated a young man for his successor who was quite adept at computers and good at the mass media sort of launch, but this seems to have been quashed under a hail of protest by the more conservative factions around the Roman Curia proper. Oddly the young man was a conservative. But popular v popular among the cardinals and metropolitans around America. So apart from this rumour, nothing doing on the pre-planning front. Sorry to disappoint.