Finally in proper attire for a non-pope…
The ‘Pope’ of Surprises: Francis Shows Up in Plain Clothes at St. Peter’s Basilica
Today, Apr. 10, 2025, the convalescing ‘Pope’ Francis (Jorge Bergoglio), who according to his doctors is supposed to have as little contact as possible with others and is to stay confined to his apartment in the Casa Santa Marta until May, had himself wheeled into Saint Peter’s Basilica, reportedly to pray at the tomb of Pope St. Pius X (r. 1903-14).
The most unusual aspect of this was that Francis decided to appear without his usual papal attire — white cassock, skull cap, ring, ugly pectoral cross — instead preferring to be seen as just another old man in a wheelchair. For this he certainly gets a ‘truth in advertising’ award, since in actual fact he is not, and never has been, the Pope of the Catholic Church. Bravo!
Vatican News has reported on this in English here, but the Italian edition provides more details:
It was almost 1 pm in St. Peter’s Basilica when some women were heard shouting among the aisles: “It’s the Pope! It’s the Pope!” After last Sunday’s surprise, when the 20,000 faithful in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of the Sick suddenly saw the Pope arrive in a wheelchair, this afternoon Francis also wanted to leave Casa Santa Marta for a few minutes, where he is continuing his recovery, and pass through the Door of Prayer to visit the Basilica. He spent less than ten minutes in silent prayer in front of the tomb of Pope Pius X, to whom he has always been said to be very attached and whom he visited to pray last Sunday as well. He also stopped by the monument dedicated to Benedict XV, the Pope of the First World War, and visited the restored tombs of Paul III and Urban VIII.
(Salvatore Cernuzio, “Il Papa a sorpresa a San Pietro per pregare alla tomba di Pio X”, Vatican News, Apr. 10, 2025; automatic translation.)
A 25-second video clip showing Francis interacting briefly with a child at the basilica is making the rounds on social media; apparently it was first released by the Italian Messa in Latino blog. We present it below (direct link here):
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So, what is this latest Bergoglian episode really all about? It is not owing to cynicism but to having paid close attention to ‘Pope’ Francis the last twelve years that one suspects there is a bit more to the story than meets the eye.
In a post on his personal blog, Vaticanist Michael Haynes provides some really astute analysis and insightful commentary on this latest Bergoglian surprise, yet without jumping to conclusions:
After providing a reasoned assessment, Haynes concludes:
The Sovereign Pontiff is back at the Vatican after his many days and nights in hospital. And thus, undaunted by his two scrapes with death, returns the man who governs in such a way as to consistently confuse and obfuscate those around him. To the descriptions of “the Dictator Pope” and “the Great Reformer” must also be added the term “the great schemer.”
In any case, the claim that ‘Pope’ Francis is strongly devoted to Pope St. Pius X is laughable on its face. It is also not new. For years the apostate Jesuit has wanted people to believe he has a strong devotion to the great anti-Modernist Pope, which is about as believable as Bill Gates claiming he has a strong interest in improving the health and well-being of humanity. Here is our prior post on the topic:
Pope Pius X’s glorious reign ended with his holy death on Aug. 20, 1914. This means that his centennial — the 100th anniversary of his death — fell squarely into Bergoglio’s false pontificate, which had begun in 2013.
So let’s see just how ‘devoted’ the Jesuit from Buenos Aires really is to St. Pius X: Does anyone recall the Vatican festivities Bergoglio had decreed for the day or the speech he gave for the occasion? What about the mention he made of the great anniversary during his general audience that day (Aug. 20, 2014)? Does no one remember? No? That’s because there was nothing but crickets in commemoration of St. Pius X’s death 100 years prior, just as the Vatican — then under ‘Pope’ Benedict XVI – had nothing to say on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his great anti-Modernist encyclical letter, Pascendi Dominici Gregis. Besides, Bergoglio was much too busy that day meeting with Argentinian soccer players:
We did not fail to point out Francis’ stunning silence at the time:
Ah, but perhaps Francis simply doesn’t see the need to commemorate the death of any Pope, not just that of St. Pius X? False! Two weeks before, on Aug. 6, 2014, Francis did not fail to recall the 36th anniversary of the death of his unholy Novus Ordo predecessor Paul VI (r. 1963-78), who at the time had not yet been ‘canonized’ but who as the de facto founder of the Vatican II religion naturally could not be ignored.
The following video vividly illustrates Francis’ refusal to celebrate St. Pius X in 2014:
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By the way: For the mere five-year anniversary of his eco-encyclical Laudato Si’ — the one about the ‘cry of the earth’ — Bergoglio made sure there would be quite a few festivities lined up:
- special commemorative Laudato Si’ Week (May 17-24, 2020)
- year-long observance of special Laudato Si’ Year (May 24, 2020 – May 24, 2021)
- release of a special prayer for the occasion
- launch of 7-year Laudato Si’ Action Platform at conclusion of Laudato Si’ Year
The matter is really quite simple: Like anyone else, so Francis, too, focuses on what he actually cares about, what truly matters to him: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Lk 6:45); “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Lk 12:34).
Where Bergoglio’s interests are, is clear: “They are of the world: therefore of the world they speak, and the world heareth them” (1 Jn 4:5).
Image source: blog.messainlatino.it (cropped)
License: fair use
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