Conservative Catholics lose their leading light with Benedict's passing

The retired pope was for more than three decades a leader in the culture wars that have shaken the Catholic Church and wider society since the late 1960s. He was a living symbol, depending on one’s point of view, of an intolerant and punitive religiosity or of stalwart fidelity amid disorienting change.

Even during his last decade, after pledging his “unconditional reverence and obedience” to his more liberal successor, Pope Francis, Benedict remained a symbol of continuity for the church’s conservative currents. The end of the historically unique cohabitation of a present and former pope in the Vatican could exacerbate the tensions within the church. …

With the retired pope no longer around to issue such disclaimers, conservatives may feel less inhibited from speaking in his name to contest what they see as Francis’ unwarranted innovations. On the other hand, Francis may feel free to move ahead even more boldly without concern for the feelings of the predecessor whom he described as a “wise grandfather.”