De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum: How Do We Respond to the Death of a Bad Pope?

All we can do is to pray for the repose of his soul and for a holy and Catholic successor.

From One Peter Five

By Timothy Flanders, MA

De mortuis nil nisi bonum dicendum est.

This Latin phrase means “Of the dead nothing but good should be said.” Its origins, however, are not Latin, but Greek. It is attributed to Chilon of Sparta, whose Greek original is τὸν τεθνηκóτα μὴ κακολογεῖν. This is slightly different than the Latin translation, as the Greek says “let evil words not be spoken against the dead man.” The verb here is λογεῖν (“to speak”) combined with the prefix for evil or wickedness (κακο).

Back in 2012, Rorate commented on this phrase by saying it is “A good rule, certainly, a hallmark of civilization, and one we have always observed.” Back in 2009, Bishop Gracida wrote:

The social caveat which appears in Latin above does not apply to politicians.  Since they enjoy a privileged status in Congress which enables them to say almost anything about anybody with impunity granted to them by law, as long as they say it on the floor of either the House or the Senate, it seems to me that they are not eligible to be covered by the rule cited above.

This is a reasonable assertion, of course, especially for modern politicians who, I fear, are so utterly corrupt as to guarantee a dreadful particular judgement for many such souls.

Nevertheless Fr. Ignatius of the Side of Jesus, meditating on the piercing of Our Lord’s side, says this:  

The barbarity of the enemies of Jesus is not satiated by all the inhuman tortures inflicted upon His living Body, but, more cruel than death itself, they turn their rage against the sacred Body of their dead Redeemer. A man, however wicked he may have been, is an object of compassion when once he has given his life in expiation of his crimes. The outrages offered to Jesus alone are endless, the insults heaped upon His sacred Person alone are unlimited. Jesus is already dead, why then open His side with a lance? Why is not the hatred borne Him by the Jews at last extinguished? Why is their cruelty not yet satiated by all the sufferings which have been inflicted upon their innocent Saviour?[1]

It would seem to me that Fr. Ignatius hits upon an important point here, as we meditate on the sufferings of the Innocent Lamb. When I think about the spiritual and corporal works of mercy for the dead (buring the dead and praying for them), and I consider the difficulty that we have all had under this pontificate, I become very reluctant to speak ill of the dead man who was our Holy Father.

As any pious Catholic should know, the “hatred of the Jews” in any Passion meditation is always an indictment on every human soul, which crucifies the Lord with sin, according to the fearful words of the Blessed Apostle:

A man making void the law of Moses, dieth without any mercy under two or three witnesses: How much more, do you think he deserveth worse punishments, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath esteemed the blood of the testament unclean, by which he was sanctified, and hath offered an affront to the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said: Vengeance belongeth to me, and I will repay. And again: The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. x. 28-31).

Therefore, we consider the cruelty of the spear against the Innocent Lamb in death, and we contrast that with the great mercy and reverence shown Him by Our Lady, St. John, the Marys, with Nicodemus and Joseph. This is an invitation to Christian mercy for the dead, imitating the latter, not the former.

So I’m terrified to speak ill of the Holy Father lest I fall into judgement myself for failing to show him mercy in death. This is the day of the Major Rogations (whose penitential procession should still occur today, despite the Octave!), and it is a great day to examine ourselves and our hearts toward the Holy Father who is now facing his particular judgement.

Part of this is personal – I spent more than a decade wrestling with the Papacy in general (especially as a hardened Eastern Orthodox Christian) before I surrendered to universal Fatherhood and came into communion with Rome right after Pope Francis was elected.

As a result, I’ve never had any other Holy Father but Pope Francis.

I have criticised him (and in my forthcoming book I will criticise him in print), but nevertheless he was our Holy Father.

He was my Holy Father.

And watching his final blessing, I pity the dying man.

And as Vincenzo Randazzo, our Romanitas producer in Rome put it: his end was more traditional than Pope Benedict. He suffered and died as Pope, like the vast majority of his predecessors. He did not follow the example of Pope Benedict and resign:

So what is a traditional response to the death of a bad Pope? First, I respect all my traditionalist brethren who have done something differently over the past few days. I respect all of you and your conscientious decisions about what you have published. All of you are my brethren, and I believe that none of you are hardening your hearts against the Holy Father and being unmerciful to him. You are simply trying to be truthful and speak according to the reality of this pontificate and what it was and the damage that still remains. Believe me, I get it.

But for me, in my view, I don’t want to speak ill until after the funeral, and hence what we’ve published here at OnePeterFive since his death.

Rorate came back to this phrase again in their post which found a way to say “Father forgive him, for he knew not what he did”:

And therefore, let us say right away that the Holy Father who has just passed away deserves respect and compassion, not only because every Christian who presents himself at the Judgment is owed this, but because he was a son of his time and his obvious inadequacies in steering the barque of Peter are (at least in part) blameless, deriving from the conditioning of the era in which the young Bergoglio developed his convictions, in the ideological chaos of the 1960s and 1970s that afflicted the world, the universal Church, and, specifically, his Argentina. Steeped in outdated ideas and concepts (following world trends, the socio-economic peripheries, a slightly lighter version of liberation theology), he failed to realize that the world, and especially the Church, had completely changed and that he had remained in a time bubble made up of campesinos, descamisados, and songs by the Inti Illimani.

This is a great way to help us forgive Pope Francis for what he has done, pray for his soul, and hope the best for his eternal reward. We must not harden our hearts towards the Holy Father who is dead, but let us give him the mercy of our filial hearts toward him.

But we will discuss his legacy, and the damage he has done. But let us first pray for him, bury him (spiritually, if you are not in Rome – follow us on Twitter)…

… and then face the next conclave with a smile and a cry of triumph: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!

Editor’s note: this is the chant that our Palestinian Catholic brethren have been chanting joyously since Saturday night even while their valiant father has left them for the conclave. Let us also join with them spiritually in their suffering and pray for peace in these ancient Christian lands for all Christians.

Note: [1] Emphasis mine. Fr. Ignatius of the Side of Jesus, School of Jesus Crucified, day 31.