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Cardinal tarnished by secret Chinese pact emerges as front-runner for pope
An Italian cardinal once tainted by a secret deal with China over the appointment of Catholic bishops has emerged as the favourite to be elected pope.
Cardinal tarnished by secret Chinese pact emerges as front-runner for pope
An Italian cardinal once tainted by a secret deal with China over the appointment of Catholic bishops has emerged as the favourite to be elected pope.
Pietro Parolin, 70, is a seasoned diplomat who served under Pope Francis as secretary of state – effectively the prime minister of the Vatican City State.
The odds of him being elected as the successor to the late pope when 133 cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday at the start of the conclave are now at 9/4, according to British bookmaker William Hill.
Cardinal Parolin has moved ahead of the previous favourite, Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, despite some in the Catholic Church being highly critical of the confidential accord that he negotiated with China’s authoritarian regime.
Catholics in China are split into two camps – those who are members of an underground church that is loyal to Rome and the pope, and those who belong to a state-sanctioned church that refuses to accept the authority of the pontiff.
Under the deal, struck in 2018 and since renewed several times, Chinese officials were given some input into bishops who are appointed by the Vatican. Critics said the agreement sold out those Catholics who are loyal to Rome and represented a capitulation to Beijing.
But that has not stopped the cardinal from moving to the front of the pack as cardinals from around the world prepare to vote in the first round of the conclave on Wednesday afternoon.
“If I had to put all my money on red, it’s Parolin, Parolin, Parolin. I am pretty certain that he will win,” a Vatican insider told The Telegraph.
“He is attractive because everybody knows him. Everyone has encountered him as a gentle, friendly, balanced, agreeable diplomatic person who knows his way around the Vatican, who has handled things for 10 years. He is reliable and he is not too aggressively Right and not too aggressively Left.
“If he becomes pope there will be no trouble, no problems, no crisis. He is not going to be a charismatic pope, he will be very dry and diplomatic. But people are looking for safety – we had surprises and charisma for 12 years (under Francis). People want to see the Vatican repaired. They want order to be restored.”
A cardinal who is a member of the Curia, the Holy See’s governing body, said: “Parolin is looking like he has the best hand to play. He’s not a divisive candidate and he is picking up votes. The Americans have faith in him. And as a moderate, he can reassure the conservatives on preserving the traditions of the Church. He can also guarantee to the progressives that he won’t roll back Francis’s initiatives,” he told La Stampa newspaper. “He is seen as a ‘first among equals’ rather than someone who wants to be in command on his own.”
It is all about Parolin helping Pope Francis capitulate to the Communist Chinese.
Nothing like another Left-wing tool running the Catholic church
