The Spectator magazine is home to wonderful writing, insightful analysis, and unrivaled books and arts reviews.

Subscribe today for just £12 and receive a 12-week subscription in print and online.

Alongside that, you get a 20-pound John Lewis or Waitrose Voucher.

Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash voucher.

Welcome to Holy Smoke, the Spectator's Religion podcast.

I'm Damien Thompson.

A few days ago, a very sick, Francis returned to a Vatican in a state of crisis and creeping paralysis.

It's very, very difficult to describe precisely what the situation is, because there's so much that we don't know, that even people in the Vatican don't know. But let me have a go at summarising what we do know and what we don't know.

The first question is, who's in charge? We can't assume that the Pope is well enough to rule the church with his customary iron fist.

It's emerged that he's going to be kept in isolation on the second floor of Santa Marta for at least two months.

In what is in effect a hospital suite, it seems that even his top officials, such as the Secretary of State,

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, currently fulfilling as many of Francis's duties as possible in order

to look like the next Pope, will have only limited access to him. Apparently, everything will

be filtered through the Pope's Argentinian private secretary,

Father Juan Cruz, now arguably the most powerful person in the Vatican next to the Pope.

It's true, admittedly, that during his illness, Francis has continued to issue documents.

For example, he signed, or was persuaded to sign, or reportedly

signed a decree extending the synodal process, an Anglican-style exchange of platitudes

dominated by woke activists. The next session in 2008 won't be the current model of a synod of bishops

accompanied by a minority of lay social justice warriors. It'll be an ecclesial assembly,

something unknown to canon law, and look, very obviously a Trojan horse for women's ordination

and gay blessings,

...