Posted on 03/20/2025 2:52:14 PM PDT by ebb tide
Damian Thompson has gone through the list of possible candidates at the next conclave. Key points from his article about the next conclave in 'Spectator'.
- Cardinal Pietro Parolin behaves like "a pope-in-waiting". He is portrayed as a 'moderate' but there is nothing moderate about the surrender to Beijing. He is the "Manchurian candidate". Parolin’s attitude against the traditional Latin Mass – increasingly popular with young Catholics – can hardly be described as tolerant.
- Sidenote on the Chinese allies of Parolin: Beijing, which owned the gay hookup app Grindr when it was installed on hundreds of clerical smartphones, has vast amounts of Kompromat to play with, perhaps a factor in the Vatican's kowtowing to the Chinese Communist Party.
- Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, a bicycling beanpole, - widely seen as Parolin's rival among the Italian bishops - is a kind-hearted socialist and homosexual propagandist.
- Cardinal Luis Tagle of the Philippines was mysteriously demoted by Francis as head of Evangelization, but is now back in favor.
- Cardinal Mario Grech , the Maltese secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, is despised by conservatives who call him "the bozo from Gozo".
- The 'conservatives' don't seem to have a candidate.
- Cardinal Peter Erdő of Budapest is nervous and hesitant.
- The ex-Protestant Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Stockholm is deeply spiritual, but it doesn't help that he is a Carmelite - after a Jesuit pope. Cardinals are wary of electing another member of an order.
- Cardinal Fernando Filoni is a diplomat who risked his life as ambassador to Baghdad, but he's been accused of keeping quiet about the homosexual Cardinal McCarrick.
- Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, made headlines when he offered himself as a hostage in place of Israeli children. He has a dignified charisma and doesn't belong to any faction, but at 59 he is young.
- None of the above can boast a contacts book, knowledge of secrets or reserves of patronage to compare with those of Cardinal Parolin.
- Another side note: Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, 93, wants to be in Rome for possible pre-conclave meetings but Cardinal Parolin wants to stop him. Will Beijing intervene? Zen called Parolin a "poisoned mind". "Parolin himself knows he is lying."
Ping
If Francis would just have the courtesy to repent, then promptly kick the bucket, we could get going on stuff like this. He’s not showing such inclination at the moment. Alas
“kind-hearted socialist”. That is an oxymoron.
Let’s Go, Pizzaballa!
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