In the time tunnel

Amid the enormous uproar generated by the death of Pope Francis, Pedro Sánchez has done something his own way. Amidst the wave of recognition for a holy father that seemed to be going against the grain, the Prime Minister has withdrawn from the burial ceremonies. The Spanish delegation will be led by King Felipe VI as head of state, who, free of executive responsibilities, performs much of his work in institutional representative functions, based on the presumed ideological neutrality of his office.

With this gesture, Pedro Sánchez stands apart from the current wave of exaltation, consistent with the principle of secularism to which most democratic parties subscribe and which forms part of the ideological foundations of the Socialist Party. All mourning is personal and non-transferable. Sánchez himself proposed that the leader of the People's Party (PP), Núñez Feijóo, be part of the delegation, and he is there representing a party that has always positioned itself within the framework of Catholic Spain and a certain clerical supremacy. That is to say, everyone has assumed their place and their role.

However, this Sunday at the Vatican, people aren't leaving just out of courtesy, but also, in some cases, out of undisguised interests. And for anyone looking for proof, there's the far-from-innocent departure of Donald Trump, a person not known for his religious passion, and whose presence has all the elements of a warning to the cardinals who must undertake the task of appointing a successor.

In fact, the procedure to be followed is very particular: 133 cardinals of rather advanced age, although those over 80 are excluded, will decide the immediate future of the Catholic Church. The cardinal is a cardinal for life, and therefore, this group of handpicked individuals forms a rather special elite in which conservative impulses are inevitable. The fear that some door might open too wide, in such a closed space, is great. In fact, Pope Francis had no time to implement the innovations his words seemed to hint at.

Every vote tends to divide voters into two blocs. Conventionally, we call them conservatives and progressives; in this case, the latter adjective may be an exaggeration. At a time when the Vatican is the focus of attention, especially in the Western world, it's hard to understand the enthusiasm displayed by many people, when, after Pope Francis's celebrated tenure, there hasn't been a single step forward in the recognition of women. And it's completely natural to assume that a leadership in which there isn't, and can't be, a woman, because in the Catholic Church, women don't have the rights men have. This cruelty, which has existed for two thousand years, is perfectly normalized. I haven't heard any of those who mourn the Pope complain. Will they never emerge from that time warp?