Henry Sire - a Spanish-born British
historian, author of "Dictator Pope", and a former Knight of the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta - wrote on BrusselsSignal.eu (April
29) about the papal candidates he has personally met. Key points.
American Cardinal Raymond Burke
was as Prefect of the Signatura one of the most respected members of
the Curia under Benedict XVI. His mistreatment by Pope Francis - even
depriving him of the Vatican apartment and pension - has earned him the
sympathy of many of his fellow cardinals, who know him for who he is,
not as the right-wing bogeyman portrayed by the pro-Francis propaganda.
Cardinal Burke is not in danger of becoming pope, but his influence will
be very strong.
German Cardinal Gerhard Müller
suffered a rude dismissal under Francis. Since then, he has
distinguished himself by his courageous defense of the Faith against
Francis' attacks on it. Cardinal Müller has been able to be more
outspoken because he has not been the object of the personal spite that
Francis has reserved for Cardinal Burke.
[Note
and counterpoint: Cardinal Müller had serious flaws in his earlier
works, where he denied the virginity of Our Lady and questioned
Transubstantiation. Once a careerist and opposed to the Roman Rite, he
embraced the traditional faction as a last refuge after his dismissal.]
Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah
was an eminent member of the previous Curia and has been undermined by
Pope Francis. He stands out among the cardinals as a religious
philosopher, with numerous publications on spirituality such as "God or
Nothing" and "Catechism of the Spiritual Life". He is considered a
strong contender for the papacy.
[Note
and counterpoint: As Prefect of the Liturgy, it was Cardinal Sarah who
forbade most Catholics to attend Easter Eucharists during the Covid
regime in 2020 and im 2021. He is an aesthete whose ability to govern is
in doubt.]
Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdő
is a man of orthodoxy who escaped the destructive hand of Francis
because he was Archbishop of Budapest and not a member of the Curia. It
has been said of him that he could come to the conclave as a "boring"
candidate, who would for that very reason would be a welcome relief from
the agitations of Francis' reign.
[Note
and counterpoint: As a young man, he was allowed to study at the
Lateran University in Rome (1975-1980), a privilege usually reserved by
the Communists for trusted collaborators, such as secret service agents.
Intellectually brilliant and a skilled canon lawyer, he combines strong
leadership with an unshakable belief in himself. His affinity for
traditional liturgy is something he keeps carefully hidden.]
Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin
was the right-hand man in Francis' tyrannical regime and the architect
of his perverse foreign policy. Ordinarily one would say that no
conclave in its right mind would elect the man responsible for the
Church's servile policy toward China, which has sold millions of Chinese
Catholics down the river.
Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech is a disciple of Francis' betrayal of Catholic moral teaching and as such would be disastrous for the Church.
"My
personal anecdote of him is that I once made a plane journey with him
together with another Cardinal (not one of the current papabili) and a
monsignor, and I have never encountered such a disorderly lot of fellow
travellers. Cardinal Grech reassured me that a plenary indulgence
attached to being trampled to death by a stampede of Cardinals
disembarking from a plane. It proved not to be necessary."
Picture: © Mazur/cbcew.org.uk, CC BY-NC-ND, #newsQsuapcdncy