Which is why I bust out laughing when one of these Cardinals claims that the conclave “is not a political process”.
Agreed. They’ve been plotting ever since they got out of the door right after BXVI announced his resignation.
The libs think this is their big chance.
I read a list of the cardinals who haven’t shown up, and I wasn’t surprised to find that several conservative (but even nearby ones, like Madrid’s Cardinal Rouco) haven’t shown up. They can’t set the date until all the voting cardinals are present, so this is a way of putting the brakes on the thing.
I think the American delegation...whose head is, believe it or not, Cardinal Mahony...is all there now, though.
I read that Cdl Dolan celebrated mass at St Peter’s tomb on Sunday and did not concelebrate with the other American cardinals, if that means anything.
While that may be true, this article notes that:
This small group was not overjoyed by Benedict XVI’s election, and they lost influence under his pontificate. - snip - Under Benedict XVI, the old guard lost their control over the Secretariat of State, a blow they haven’t forgotten.
They can bloviate all they want. With his keen intuition and understanding, Pope Benedict anticipated such a reaction, hence the "surprise" November consistory which expanded the college and increased the presence of voting members from the East. B16 gets the last laugh.