What happens to the leadership of the Catholic Church when a pope becomes sick or incapacitated?

What happens to the leadership of the Catholic Church when a pope becomes sick or incapacitated?
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A candle glimmers alongside a painting of Pope Francis at San Jose de Flores Basilica, Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he worshipped as a youth. (AP)
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Updated 24 February 2025
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What happens to the leadership of the Catholic Church when a pope becomes sick or incapacitated?

What happens to the leadership of the Catholic Church when a pope becomes sick or incapacitated?
  • Pope Francis’ hospital stay is raising obvious questions about what happens if he loses consciousness for a prolonged period
  • Canon law does have provisions for when a bishop gets sick and can’t run his diocese, but none for a pope

VATICAN CITY: While the Vatican has detailed laws and rituals to ensure the transfer of power when a pope dies or resigns, they do not apply if he is sick or even unconscious. And there are no specific norms outlining what happens to the leadership of the Catholic Church if a pope becomes totally incapacitated.

As a result, even though Pope Francis remains hospitalized in critical condition with a complex lung infection, he is still pope and very much in charge.

Still, Francis’ hospital stay is raising obvious questions about what happens if he loses consciousness for a prolonged period, or whether he might follow in Pope Benedict XVI’s footsteps and resign if he becomes unable to lead. On Monday, Francis’ hospital stay will hit the 10-day mark, equaling the length of his 2021 hospital stay for surgery to remove 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon.

His age and prolonged illness has revived interest about how papal power is exercised in the Holy See, how it is transferred and under what circumstances. And it points to the legislative loophole that currently exists in what to do if a pope gets so sick that he can’t govern.

The Vatican Curia

Francis may be in charge, but he already delegates the day-to-day running of the Vatican and church to a team of officials who operate whether he is in the Apostolic Palace or not, and whether he is conscious or not.

Chief among them is the secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Other Vatican functions are proceeding normally, including the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year celebrations.

What happens when a pope gets sick?

Canon law does have provisions for when a bishop gets sick and can’t run his diocese, but none for a pope. Canon 412 says a diocese can be declared “impeded” if its bishop — due to “captivity, banishment, exile, or incapacity” — cannot fulfil his pastoral functions. In such cases, the day-to-day running of the diocese shifts to an auxiliary bishop, a vicar general or someone else.

Even though Francis is the bishop of Rome, no explicit provision exists for the pope if he similarly becomes “impeded.” Canon 335 declares simply that when the Holy See is “vacant or entirely impeded,” nothing can be altered in the governance of the church. But it doesn’t say what it means for the Holy See to be “entirely impeded” or what provisions might come into play if it ever were.

In 2021, a team of canon lawyers set out to propose norms to fill that legislative gap. They created a canonical crowd-sourcing initiative to craft a new church law regulating the office of a retired pope as well as norms to apply when a pope is unable to govern, either temporarily or permanently.

The proposed norms explain that, with medical advancements, it’s entirely likely that at some point a pope will be alive but unable to govern. It argues that the church must provide for the declaration of a “totally impeded see” and the transfer of power for the sake of its own unity.

Under the proposed norms, the governance of the universal church would pass to the College of Cardinals. In the case of a temporary impediment, they would name a commission to govern, with periodical medical checks every six months to determine the status of the pope.

“At first, the promoting group was accused of imprudently choosing topics that were too sensitive and controversial,” said one of the coordinators, canon lawyer Geraldina Boni.

But then, “a widespread consensus formed,” she told The Associated Press. Even Francis’ own canon lawyer, Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, acknowledged some sort of norms were necessary if the pope “incurably, then irreversibly, lost consciousness or otherwise the ability to perform human acts.”

“The problem is, who declares that the pope is in a situation where he cannot govern?” he told Italian daily Il Giornale in 2022.

Ghirlanda largely backed the crowd-sourcing initiative’s idea, proposing a committee of medical experts to determine if the pope’s condition is irreversible. If they confirm it is, the Rome-based cardinals would be summoned to declare the pope cannot govern, triggering a conclave.

 




A photo of Pope Francis with a phrase that reads in Spanish: "Francis, the city prays for you" is projected onto the Obelisk in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Feb. 23, 2025. (AP)

What about the letters?

Francis confirmed in 2022 that shortly after he was elected pope he wrote a letter of resignation, to be invoked if he became medically incapacitated. He said he gave it to the then-secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and said he assumed Bertone had delivered it to Parolin’s office when he retired.

The text is not public, and the conditions Francis contemplated for a resignation are unknown. It is also not known if such a letter would be canonically valid. Canon law requires a papal resignation to be “freely and properly manifested” — as was the case when Benedict announced his resignation in 2013.

In 1965, Pope Paul VI wrote letters to the dean of the College of Cardinals hypothesizing that if he were to become seriously ill, the dean and other cardinals should accept his resignation. The letter was never invoked, since Paul lived another 13 years and died on the job.

What happens when a pope dies or resigns?

The only time papal power changes hands is when a pope dies or resigns. At that time, a whole series of rites and rituals comes into play governing the “interregnum” — the period between the end of one pontificate and the election of a new pope.

During that period, known as the “sede vacante,” or “empty See,” the camerlengo, or chamberlain, runs the administration and finances of the Holy See. He certifies the pope’s death, seals the papal apartments and prepares for the pope’s burial before a conclave to elect a new pope. The position is currently held by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the head of the Vatican’s laity office.

The camerlengo has no role or duties if the pope is merely sick or otherwise incapacitated.

Likewise, the dean of the College of Cardinals, who would preside at a papal funeral and organize the conclave, has no additional role if the pope is merely sick. That position is currently held by Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 91.

Earlier this month, Francis decided to keep Re on the job even after his five-year term expired, rather than make way for someone new. He also extended the term of the vice-dean, Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, 81.

 


Australia will not commit troops in advance to any conflict, minister says

Australia will not commit troops in advance to any conflict, minister says
Updated 8 sec ago
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Australia will not commit troops in advance to any conflict, minister says

Australia will not commit troops in advance to any conflict, minister says
  • Defense industry minister Pat Conroy: Australia prioritizes its sovereignty and ‘we don’t discuss hypotheticals’
  • A US defense official has been pushing Australian and Japanese counterparts on what they would do in a Taiwan conflict
SYDNEY: Australia will not commit troops in advance to any conflict, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said on Sunday, responding to a report that the Pentagon has pressed its ally to clarify what role it would play if the US and China went to war over Taiwan.
Australia prioritizes its sovereignty and “we don’t discuss hypotheticals,” Conroy said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“The decision to commit Australian troops to a conflict will be made by the government of the day, not in advance but by the government of the day,” he said.
The Financial Times reported on Saturday that Elbridge Colby, the US under-secretary of defense for policy, has been pushing Australian and Japanese defense officials on what they would do in a Taiwan conflict, although the US does not offer a blank cheque guarantee to defend Taiwan.
Colby posted on X that the Department of Defense is implementing President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda of restoring deterrence, which includes “urging allies to step up their defense spending and other efforts related to our collective defense.”
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.
Australia’s largest war-fighting exercise with the United States, involving 30,000 troops from 19 countries, opens on Sunday on Sydney Harbor.
Conroy said Australia was concerned about China’s military buildup of nuclear and conventional forces, and wants a balanced Indo-Pacific region where no country dominates.
“China is seeking to secure a military base in the region and we are working very hard to be the primary security partner of choice for the region because we don’t think that’s a particularly optimal thing for Australia,” he said, referring to the Pacific Islands.
Security is expected to be on the agenda when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets China’s leaders this week. He arrived in Shanghai on Saturday for a six-day visit.
The Talisman Sabre exercise will span 6,500 kilometers, from Australia’s Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island to the Coral Sea on Australia’s east coast.
Conroy said it was possible China’s navy would be watching the exercise to collect information, as it had done in the past.
The United States is Australia’s major security ally. Although Australia does not permit foreign bases, the US military is expanding its rotational presence and fuel stores on Australian bases, which from 2027 will have US Virginia submarines at port in Western Australia.
These would play a key role in supporting US forces in any conflict over Taiwan, analysts say.

Farm worker dies after US immigration raid in California

Farm worker dies after US immigration raid in California
Updated 34 min 29 sec ago
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Farm worker dies after US immigration raid in California

Farm worker dies after US immigration raid in California
  • A farm worker has died after being injured during a raid by US immigration agents on a legal cannabis farm in California, his family said on Saturday

CAMARILLO: A farm worker has died after being injured during a raid by US immigration agents on a legal cannabis farm in California, his family said on Saturday.

Raids on agricultural sites Thursday resulted in the arrests of 200 undocumented migrants, as part of US President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging anti-immigration crackdown, and clashes between law enforcement officials and protesters.

The farm worker’s family had started a page on the fundraising platform GoFundMe to help support his relatives in Mexico. On Saturday, the page posted an update to say he had “passed away.”

Trump campaigned for the presidency on a harsh anti-immigration platform, likening undocumented migrants to “animals” and “monsters,” and since taking office he has delivered on promises to conduct a massive deportation drive.

On Friday, he called demonstrators involved in attacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “slimeballs” and said they should be arrested.

The chaotic raid on the cannabis plantation in Ventura County, about 56 miles (90 kilometers) from Los Angeles, saw the worker who later died being chased by ICE agents, his family said.

“My uncle Jaime was just a hard-working, innocent farmer,” said a post on the GoFundMe page. “He was chased by ICE agents, and we were told he fell 30ft (9 meters).”

The page described his injuries as “catastrophic.”

Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman, said he was never in custody.

“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30 feet,” McLaughlin said. “(Customs and Border Patrol) immediately called a medevac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”

DHS said 200 undocumented migrants were arrested during raids on marijuana growing sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo on Thursday and 10 children were rescued “from potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking.”

Glass House Brands, which owns the farms, said in a statement that it has “never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors.”

DHS said more than 500 “rioters” had attempted to disrupt the operation and four US citizens are facing charges for assaulting or resisting officers.

Tear gas was used against the protesters, some of whom were seen in television footage throwing projectiles at law enforcement vehicles.

The department said immigration agency vehicles were damaged and a $50,000 reward was being offered for the arrest of an individual who allegedly fired a gun at law enforcement officers.



In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had watched footage of “thugs” throwing rocks and bricks at ICE vehicles, causing “tremendous damage.”

Trump said he was authorizing law enforcement officers who are “on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks, or any other form of assault, to stop their car, and arrest these SLIMEBALLS, using whatever means is necessary to do so.”

“I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public,” he said.

Trump has been involved in a showdown over immigration enforcement with Democratic-ruled California for weeks.

The Republican president sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles last month to quell protests against round-ups of undocumented migrants by federal agents.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the troops were not necessary to address the mostly peaceful protests, but his legal efforts to have them removed have failed so far.

The cannabis farm in Camarillo was calm during a visit by an AFP reporter on Friday, as workers waited in line to collect their belongings and paychecks.

“We’ve been here since six this morning asking questions but they’re not giving us any information,” said Saul Munoz, a 43-year-old Colombian whose son was detained on Thursday.

“I just want to know how he’s doing,” Munoz said. “Bring him back to me and if it’s time for us to leave, we’ll leave.

“The truth is the American dream is no longer really the American dream.”


Furor over Epstein files sparks clash between Bondi and Bongino at the Justice Department

Furor over Epstein files sparks clash between Bondi and Bongino at the Justice Department
Updated 13 July 2025
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Furor over Epstein files sparks clash between Bondi and Bongino at the Justice Department

Furor over Epstein files sparks clash between Bondi and Bongino at the Justice Department
  • The spat threatened to shatter relations between the two Trump officials and centered in part on a news story that described divisions between the FBI and the Justice Department

WASHINGTON: The Justice Department and FBI are struggling to contain the fallout from this week’s decision to withhold records from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation, which rankled influential far-right media personalities and supporters of President Donald Trump.

The move, which included the acknowledgment that one particular sought-after document never actually existed, sparked a contentious conversation between Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino at the White House this week. The spat threatened to shatter relations between them and centered in part on a news story that described divisions between the FBI and the Justice Department.

The cascade of disappointment and disbelief arising from the refusal to disclose additional, much-hyped records from the Epstein investigation underscores the struggles of FBI and Justice Department leaders to resolve the conspiracy theories and amped-up expectations that they themselves had stoked with claims of a cover-up and hidden evidence. Infuriated by the failure of officials to unlock, as promised, the secrets of the so-called “deep state,” Trump supporters on the far right have grown restless and even demanded change at the top.

Trump expressed frustration in a social media posting on Saturday over the divide among diehards of his “Make America Great Again” movement over the matter, and expressed support for Bondi. His lengthy post made no mention of Bongino.

“What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’” Trump wrote. “They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening.”

Tensions that simmered for months boiled over on Monday when the Justice Department and FBI issued a two-page statement saying that they had concluded that Epstein did not possess a “client list,” even though Bondi had intimated in February that such a document was sitting on her desk, and had decided against releasing any additional records from the investigation.

The department did disclose a video meant to prove that Epstein killed himself in jail, but even that raised the eyebrows of conspiracy theorists because of a missing minute in the recording.

It was hardly the first time that Trump administration officials have failed to fulfill their pledge to deliver the evidence that supporters had come to expect.

In February, conservative influencers were invited to the White House and provided with binders marked “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” and “Declassified.” But the binders contained information that had largely already been in the public domain.

Afterward, Bondi said an FBI “source” informed her of the existence of thousands of pages of previously undisclosed documents and ordered the bureau to provide the “full and complete Epstein files.” She later said officials were poring over a “truckload” of previously withheld evidence she said had been handed over by the FBI.

But after a months-long review of evidence in the government’s possession, the Justice Department determined in the memo Monday that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.” The department noted that much of the material was placed under seal by a court to protect victims, and “only a fraction” of it “would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial.”

The Trump administration had hoped that that statement would be the final word on the saga, with Trump chiding a reporter who asked Bondi about the Epstein case at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

But Bondi and Bongino had a tense exchange the following day at the White House, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation.

Part of the clash centered on a story from the news organization NewsNation that cited a “source close to the White House” as saying the FBI would have released the Epstein files months ago if it could have done so on its own. The story included statements from Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel refuting the premise, but not Bongino.

The news publication Axios was first to describe the conversation.

Blanche sought to stem the fallout Friday with a social media post in which he said he had worked closely with Patel and Bongino on the Epstein matter and the joint memo.

“All of us signed off on the contents of the memo and the conclusions stated in the memo. The suggestion by anyone that there was any daylight between the FBI and DOJ leadership on this memo’s composition and release is patently false,” he wrote on X.

Also Friday, far-right activist Laura Loomer, who is close to Trump, posted on X that she was told that Bongino was “seriously thinking about resigning” and had taken the day off to contemplate his future. Bongino is normally an active presence on social media but has been silent since Wednesday.

The FBI did not respond to a request seeking comment, and the White House sought in a statement to minimize any tensions.

“President Trump has assembled a highly qualified and experienced law and order team dedicated to protecting Americans, holding criminals accountable, and delivering justice to victims,” said spokesman Harrison Fields. “This work is being carried out seamlessly and with unity. Any attempt to sow division within this team is baseless and distracts from the real progress being made in restoring public safety and pursuing justice for all.”

 


Nigeria says jailed 44 for terrorism financing

Nigeria says jailed 44 for terrorism financing
Updated 13 July 2025
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Nigeria says jailed 44 for terrorism financing

Nigeria says jailed 44 for terrorism financing
  • Counterterrorism agency says it has now secured a total of 785 convictions involving terrorism-related offenses
  • Nigeria is listed as a “gray list country” by world monitors due to deficiencies in preventing money laundering and terrorism financing

 

KANO, Nigeria: Nigeria on Saturday slapped 44 Boko Haram jihadists with jail terms of up to 30 years for funding terrorist activities, a spokesman for a counterterrorism agency said.

The convicted were among 54 suspects arraigned in four specially-constituted civilian courts set up at a military base in the town of Kainji in central Niger state, Abu Michael, a spokesman for Nigeria’s counterterrorism center said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Nigeria resumed trials of the suspects seven years after it suspended prosecution of over 1,000 people suspected of ties with the jihadist group that has been waging an insurgency since 2009 to establish a caliphate.

“The verdicts delivered from the trials resulted in prison sentences ranging from 10 to 30 years, all to be served with hard labor,” Michael said.

“With the latest convictions, Nigeria has now secured a total of 785 cases involving terrorism financing and other terrorism-related offenses,” said the statement.

The trial of the remaining 10 cases was adjourned to a later date, he said.

Nigeria is listed as a “grey list country” by international monitors alongside South Sudan, South Africa, Monaco and Croatia due to deficiencies in preventing money laundering and terrorism financing.

The Nigerian military’s 16-year campaign to crush the jihadists in the northeast has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes, according to the United Nations.

The violence has also spilt over into neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

In October 2017, Nigeria began mass trials of the Islamist insurgents, more than eight years after the start of the violence.

That phase of the trials, which lasted five months, saw the convictions of 200 jihadist fighters with sentencing ranging from “death penalty and life imprisonment to prison terms of 20 to 70 years,” Michael said.

The offenses for the convictions included attacks on women and children, the destruction of religious sites, the killing of civilians, and the abduction of women and children.

Human rights groups accused the military of arbitrarily arresting thousands of civilians, with many being held for years without access to lawyers or being brought to court.

 


Trump calls for MAGA base to end ‘Epstein Files’ obsession

Trump calls for MAGA base to end ‘Epstein Files’ obsession
Updated 13 July 2025
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Trump calls for MAGA base to end ‘Epstein Files’ obsession

Trump calls for MAGA base to end ‘Epstein Files’ obsession
  • “Let’s...not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform
  • The “Epstein Files” were a hoax perpetrated by the Democratic Party for political gain, he told his MAGA supporters
  • Trump has denied allegations that he was named in the files or had any direct connection to the notorious sex offender

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump urged his political base on Saturday to stop attacking his administration over files related to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a case that has become an obsession for conspiracy theorists.

Trump’s Department of Justice and the FBI said in a memo made public last week there was no evidence that the disgraced financier kept a “client list” or was blackmailing powerful figures.

They also dismissed the claim that Epstein was murdered in jail, confirming his death by suicide at a New York prison in 2019, and said they would not be releasing any more information on the probe.

The move was met with incredulity by some on the US far-right — many of whom have backed Trump for years — and strident criticism of Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.

“What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!” Trump said Saturday in a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform.

“We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein,” he added, referring to his “Make America Great Again” movement.

 

 

Many among the MAGA faithful have long contended that so-called “Deep State” actors were hiding information on Epstein’s elite associates.

“Next the DOJ will say ‘Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed,’” furious pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Alex Jones tweeted after last week’s move. “This is over the top sickening.”

Far-right influencer Laura Loomer called for Trump to fire Bondi over the issue, labeling her “an embarrassment.”

But on Saturday, Trump came to the defense of his attorney general, suggesting that the so-called “Epstein Files” were a hoax perpetrated by the Democratic Party for political gain, without specifying what benefits they hoped to attain.

"Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration...?” he said.

On Saturday, Trump struck an exasperated tone in his admonishment of his supporters.

“For years, it’s Epstein, over and over again,” he said. “Let’s...not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.”

This undated trial evidence image obtained December 8, 2021, from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York shows British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and US financier Jeffrey Epstein. (AFP)

The US president called for Patel and Bondi to instead focus on what he terms “The Rigged and Stolen Election of 2020,” which Trump lost to Joe Biden.

The Republican has repeatedly perpetuated unfounded conspiracy theories about his loss being due to fraud.

He called for the FBI to be allowed to focus on that investigation “instead of spending month after month looking at nothing but the same old, Radical Left inspired Documents on Jeffrey Epstein. LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB — SHE’S GREAT!“

Trump, who appears in at least one decades-old video alongside Epstein at a party, has denied allegations that he was named in the files or had any direct connection to the financier.

“The conspiracy theories just aren’t true, never have been,” said FBI Director Patel on Saturday, hours before Trump’s social media post.

Not everyone, however, seemed to be on the same page.

US media reported that Dan Bongino — an influential right-wing podcast host whom Trump appointed FBI deputy director — had threatened to resign over the administration’s handling of the issue.