Free Republic

Yesterday, Pope Leo XIV gave the first sign that he is willing to take on the debacle left by Pope Francis regarding the plight of Catholics in China.As LifeSiteNews has reported, the secret Vatican-China deal – set up by disgraced Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and approved and perpetuated by Francis and his Secretary of State Pietro Parolin – has seen Catholics forced underground as the communist nation effectively controls Catholicism in the totalitarian regime. After praying the Regina Caeli on Sunday, Leo XIV proved himself quite the diplomat. He first spoke about a Polish martyr who died under the communists, and...

[Catholic Caucus] Leading Freemason supports Cardinal Parolin for Pope, says Francis had masonic ties'If the Church still has a glimmer of rationality, it must elect Pietro Parolin as Pope. It is the only way to restore its authority,' declared Freemason Giuliano Di Bernardo.Cardinal Pietro Parolin is a leading Italian Freemason’s choice for Pope, and the former Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy has also hinted that the late Pope Francis may have been a Freemason himself.In an interview published by the Italian Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper on May 3, 2025, Giuliano Di Bernardo, a leader in masonic circles,...

[Catholic Caucus] Parolin, the great manipulator who wants to be PopeThe former Secretary of State is currently in the lead, personally hunting for the missing votes to secure the papacy. And there is a manipulative management of the Congregations that prevents discussion of the serious problems facing the Church, and thus prevents the weaknesses of Cardinal Parolin from coming to light, from the Becciu case to the failed agreement with China. And the presence of Cardinal Zen in Rome....- Silvestrini's heir and Bergoglio's continuator, by Luisella Scrosati It is like the Synod, they manipulate the General Congregations. The disappointment and...

[Catholic Caucus] The Next Pope Needs a Better China Policyeforming the Vatican’s policy on China should be a priority of the next papacy. The current approach is defined by the Vatican’s controversial 2018 agreement with China to share power with Beijing in the appointment of Catholic bishops. It severely compromises the Catholic Church in China and erodes papal religious and moral authority.Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Cardinal Parolin is the architect of the China deal and its chief enthusiast. Beijing has not-so-subtly signaled that he is China’s top pick for the next pope. At a press conference on April 22—one...

[Catholic Caucus] Chinese Catholics plead with cardinals: ‘Do not let our suffering be in vain’(Stella Maris Media) — First and foremost, the Church in China mourns the loss of our Holy Father, Pope Francis. Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace.Now that the pontificate of Pope Francis has come to an end, and the cardinals are preparing to gather in conclave to elect the next Holy Pontiff, I write this open letter to you – cardinal electors – with a burdened conscience and a deep sense of urgency.This is not a letter campaigning for...

Could Cardinal Parolin be validly elected pope?For Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican II 'renewal' is to be brought about through compromise with the proponents of liberalism and naturalism, rather than by combatting these errors.Pietro Parolin is widely regarded as one of the leading candidates who may be elected at the next conclave. Parolin was named a cardinal by Francis in 2014 and has been a member of his influential Council of Cardinal Advisers since that year. He played a prominent role in Francis’s radical revolution and has been a strong supporter of “synodality”, which he sees as a continuation of Vatican...

[Catholic Caucus] Chinese authorities arrest underground Catholic bishop ahead of EasterBishop Peter Shao Zhumin has been arrested a number of times by China's authorities due to being part of the underground church.Officials from the Chinese Communist Party have once again arrested a bishop of the underground church in the latest targeted arrest aimed at preventing him from celebrating the Holy Week liturgies.According to AsiaNews, Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin was arrested on April 10, along with his aide Father Jiang Xu Nian. The pair were taken by officials from the National Security Bureau, and AsiaNews reports that their current location is...

[Catholic Caucus] Parolin Represents "Everything That Is Wrong""No, Parolin, you will not be Pope," writes Jaime Gurpegui on InfoVaticana.com (March 28).What Pietro Parolin signed with the socialist Sánchez regime in Spain regarding the Valle de los Caídos, together with the sell-out of the Catholic Church to the Chinese state, "disqualifies him for life from occupying the chair of Saint Peter".Therefore, Parolin will not be Pope: "Because Catholics with memories, those of us who do not swallow betrayal wrapped in diplomatic cellophane, will remind him relentlessly".A man who hands over living temples to the enemies of the faith, who collaborates with...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Shao arrested over “illegal” Jubilee opening MassThe Public Security Bureau this morning arrested the underground bishop of Wenzhou (Zhejiang) after he refused to pay a 200,000 fine for celebrating Mass on 27 December before 200 people. Last week he wrote to the faithful asking them to attend Mass more often and pray the rosary for Pope Francis’s health.Milan (AsiaNews) – China’s security police arrested Mgr Peter Shao Zhumin, underground bishop of Wenzhou (Zhejiang). The prelate was taken into custody today at noon in connection with the opening Holy Year Mass he celebrated publicly on 27 December, which...

Who Could Be the Next Pope? -- Parolin: Fake Moderate, Sincere ProgressiveCardinal Parolin, the Secretary of State, is considered very hostile to the Traditional Mass (playing on the nickname, “the Mass of All Time,” he is quoted as saying, “We must put an end to this Mass for all time!” At this time, when Rome is more or less preparing for a conclave, his friends are doing everything to sell, as the communicators say, an image of Parolin as a “moderate”, “man of consensus.” Pietro Parolin, who is said to be considering the name of John XXIV, would be in...

Vatican’s top diplomat says Trump won’t change Pope’s line on ChinaROME – While congratulating Donald Trump and wishing him “much wisdom” in his second term, the Vatican’s top diplomat also bluntly declared Thursday that a controversial deal with China on the appointment of bishops will continue “regardless of reactions that may come from America” during a new Trump administration.Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, spoke to reporters on the sidelines of an event at Rome’s Jesuit-run Gregorian University on artificial intelligence and international humanitarian law.Asked about tensions that arose between the White House and the Vatican over...

[Catholic Caucus] The plotting to find the next PopeThe Hollywood adaptation of Conclave, Robert Harris’s thriller about a conspiracy to rig a papal election, won’t be in cinemas until November. But judging by the trailer released last week, its starry cast, crafty plot and spectacular cinematography – jets of smoke scattering cardinals as an explosion shatters the Sistine Chapel – will instantly erase memories of The Two Popes, Netflix’s risible Oscar-nominated fantasy in which Benedict XVI secretly chooses Cardinal Bergoglio as his successor.Perhaps only four cardinal-electors are conservative Latin Mass ritualists, and none stands a chanceHarris’s novel was published in...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Parolin says infamous Vatican-China deal will be renewed at end of 2024Cardinal Pietro Parolin has announced that the Vatican will renew its heavily criticized secret deal with Communist China at the end of this year.During a presentation of the book Cardinal Celso Costantini and China – Constructor of a “bridge” between the East and West on Thursday at Rome’s Pontifical Urban University, Parolin told journalists, “With China, we are dialoguing as we have been for some time.”READ: Cardinal Zen torches the Vatican and his critics over China deal“We are trying to find the best procedures also for...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal says debate about blessings is normal part of Church lifeCardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the debate surrounding the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s declaration on the possibility of blessing gay couples shows that deeper reflection is still needed.At the same time, he said, the reaction is a normal and healthy part of the Catholic Church learning how to take Gospel values and apply them to new situations.Speaking to reporters who were attending his speech on the Holy See and peacemaking Jan. 12 at Rome’s Academy of the Lincei, the cardinal was asked...

Fifty LGBTQ Advocates Welcomed to Vatican by High Ranking CardinalThe second -highest Vatican official after Pope Francis received a delegation of advocates working to end LGBTQ criminalization laws and conversion therapy, a meeting described by one Catholic group as a “great step forward” but which should prompt further action.Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, met with some 50 lawyers, politicians, and activists who presented him with research on anti-LGBTQ criminalization laws in the Caribbean that will be published next year by the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights. A statement from the Vatican Press Office, reported by La Stampa,...

The Vatican said on Saturday that Chinese authorities had violated the terms stipulated in its provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops. A statement released on Nov. 26 said that “the Holy See noted with surprise and regret” that Bishop John Peng Weizhao had been installed as an “auxiliary bishop of Jiangxi,” a diocese that is not recognized by the Vatican. Peng’s installation ceremony in Nanchang, China “did not occur in accordance with the spirit of dialogue … and what was stipulated in the Provisional Agreement on the Appointment of Bishops, on September 22, 2018,” it said. The Vatican statement...

Cardinal Parolin: COP27 provides opportunity that cannot be wastedSpeaking at the COP27 meeting on climate change, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin highlights the Holy See’s participation as a “state party” to both the Convention and the Paris Agreement, and emphasizes the need for international and intergenerational solidarity to address the challenge of climate change.Cardinal Pietro Parolin assured participants in the COP27 gathering of Pope Francis’s “ closeness, support, and encouragement” for their work.He noted that just a few days earlier, in Bahrain, the Holy Father had expressed his hope “that COP27 will be a step forward for ‘concrete and...

Vatican Sec. of State Parolin to French Bishops: Help Trads "disoriented" with Traditionis Custodes Message sent by the Vatican Secretary of State, Card. Parolin, to the French Episcopal Conference meeting this week in Lourdes:The Holy Father Pope Francis wishes to assure you and all the members present [at the 2022 Fall Plenary Assembly] of his prayer and his fraternal and spiritual support. At a time when the Church of France is once again shaken by the drama of abuse on the part of some of its pastors, he invites you, with your eyes fixed on the cross of Christ,...

The Vatican is tying itself into knots in China Does its strategy mean that members of the underground Church will be left twisting in the wind?Last month Pope Francis appointed 20 new Cardinals at a consistory, a special meeting in Rome, bringing the world’s total to 226.One conspicuous absence was Hong Kong’s Cardinal Joseph Zen. His passport has been revoked while he awaits trial, charged with colluding with foreign powers and raising money for pro-democracy supporters. The trumped-up charges are clearly meant to intimidate critics of Beijing and opponents of the government’s heavy hand on the Catholic Church.German Cardinal...

Zen and the Art of Motu Proprio Maintenance Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun’s arrest by the Chinese Communist Party puppets in Hong Kong nails one more scalp to the Communist Wall of Religious Persecution. Communists (and their fellow travelers worldwide) hate religion. Communists hate God. This is nothing new, and it will never change. Even before Cardinal Zen was thrown into a Communist dungeon in what was once one of the most vibrant and Catholic-friendly cities in East Asia, Communists have been gunning for anyone who believes in a higher power than the Party.True to form, those Communists are enthusiastic...