This is most likely Benedict XVI and the probably point is that Francis is stirring things up by moving the Church out of the comfort zone that it has been mired in for years-at least since John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council did a massive shake-up. Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict, while active in various changes in society as a whole did not really do much to change or shake up the entrenched bureaucracy of the Curia and the mindset of most of the Church leaders. The metaphor is that many of the current Church leaders are reacting like the cat being held by Benedict and are unhappy at being confronted with something other than the comfortable status quo.
This is most likely Benedict XVI and the probably point is that Francis is stirring things up by moving the Church out of the comfort zone that it has been mired in for years-at least since John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council did a massive shake-up. Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict, while active in various changes in society as a whole did not really do much to change or shake up the entrenched bureaucracy of the Curia and the mindset of most of the Church leaders. The metaphor is that many of the current Church leaders are reacting like the cat being held by Benedict and are unhappy at being confronted with something other than the comfortable status quo.