Vatican: Pope calls on young Italian economists to drop their dependance on fossil fuels

Pope Francis on Saturday called for the world to abandon fossil fuels while speaking in the town of Assisi in central Italy.

Read more at: https://m.dw.com/de/themen/s-9077

Vatican: Pope Francis fuels new speculation on future of pontificate

Pope Francis added fuel to rumors about the future of his pontificate by announcing he would visit the central Italian city of L’Aquila in August for a feast initiated by Pope Celestine V, one of the few pontiffs who resigned before Pope Benedict XVI stepped down in 2013.

Italian and Catholic media have been rife with unsourced speculation that the 85-year-old Francis might be planning to follow in Benedict’s footsteps, given his increased mobility problems that have forced him to use a wheelchair for the last month.

Read more at: Pope Francis fuels new speculation on future of pontificate | AP News

Italy: Mike Pompeo Denied Audience With Pope Francis - by Nick Visser

The Vatican denied U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s request for an audience with Pope Francis this week, saying the pope would not see Pompeo in the midst of the ongoing American election.

“Yes, he asked,” Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin told The Associated Press as Pompeo is in Europe for a weeklong visit. “But the pope had already said clearly that political figures are not received in election periods. That is the reason.”

Pompeo will still meet with Parolin and other top Vatican officials during the visit, but the refusal was seen by some as the latest example of a political rift between the United States and the Vatican. During a religious freedom conference this week, Pompeo issued a strong denouncement of a deal the Catholic Church signed two years ago with China related to the appointment of bishops, which it is considering extending.

Read more at: 
Mike Pompeo Denied Audience With Pope Francis | HuffPost

World Day for Migrants and Refugees: 'We cannot remain insensitive': Pope decries world's indifference to migrants, refugees

Pope Francis on Sunday decried "the culture of comfort" that leads to indifference in the face of a global migration and refugee crisis.

The Pope, who has made caring for migrants a major objective of his papacy, spoke during a mass at the Vatican in Rome for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees.

"We cannot be indifferent to the tragedy of old and new forms of poverty, to the bleak isolation, contempt and discrimination experienced by those who do not belong to 'our group,"' Francis said.

"We cannot remain insensitive,our hearts deadened, before the misery of so many innocent people. We must not fail to weep. We must not fail to respond.

The pontiff has often spoken of the need to be welcoming to migrants, travelling to the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013 on his first trip as Pope to comfort refugees.

His message found political resistance in Italy's previous populist government, during which the former hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, campaigned to prevent the arrival in Italy of migrants rescued at sea by humanitarian groups.

The Pope also noted the weapons that fuel wars are often produced and sold in other regions, "which are then unwilling to take in the refugees generated buy these conflicts."

Read more at: 'We cannot remain insensitive': Pope decries world's indifference to migrants, refugees | CBC News

The Vatican: Pope Francis Says Secret Archives On Holocaust-Era Pope Pius XII Will Be Opened Early - by Billy Perrigo

The Pope Francis announced Monday that the Vatican’s archives on controversial World War II-era pope Pius XII would be opened up eight years earlier than planned, in 2020, a move seen as an olive branch to Jews who have criticized the Vatican for not doing enough during the Holocaust.

The church is not afraid of history,” Pope Francis said, announcing the move in a speech to members of the Vatican’s Secret Archives. “On the contrary, it loves it, and would like to love it even more, like it loves God.”

Papal archives are usually opened to historians 70 years after the end of a pope’s rule, but the Church has come under pressure to reveal Pius XII’s records earlier than that, while aging Holocaust survivors are still alive.

Many Jewish groups have been calling on the Vatican to open the archives for decades. Rabbi David Rosen, of the American Jewish Committee, welcomed the news, telling Reuters it would help historians to “acknowledge both the failures as well as the valiant efforts made” during the Holocaust.

Read more: Pope Francis Says Secret Archives On Holocaust-Era Pope Pius XII Will Be Opened Early

Vatican: Pope Francis says populism leads to Hitler

Pope Francis says populism leads to Hitler

Read mote at:
https://p.dw.com/p/373rR

The Vatican - "Shame and Scandal in the family": Pope Francis knew of abuse scandal says ex-Vatican envoy

The Vatican - "shame and scandal in the family"

Archbishop Carlo Vigano has launched a fresh attack on Pope Francis, urging him to resign.

The accusation came as the pope concluded his trip to Ireland where he begged for forgiveness for decades of Catholic abuse.

A former high ranking Vatican official has called on Pope Francis to step down, accusing the pontiff of knowing about sex abuse allegations against a prominent US cardinal for five years before finally accepting his resignation last month.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano laid out his argument in an 11-page letter that was published Sunday in the National Catholic Register and another conservative site, LifeSiteNews.

The 77-year-old Vigano, an arch-conservative with strong anti-homosexual views, said he told the pope in 2013 that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had faced voluminous allegations of sexually abusing lower-ranking seminarians and priests.

Read more: Pope Francis knew of abuse scandal says ex-Vatican envoy | News | DW | 26.08.2018

Ireland -Christianity: It’s too late. Not even Pope Francis can resurrect Catholic Ireland - by Fintan O’Toole

Note EU-Digest by the editor: Hopefully there will be protests in Ireland during the Pope's visit there, against the Catholic church hypocrisy around the world, surrounding past and ongoing sexual abuse scandals, including those against minors.

It is also remarkable, how little condemnation is coming from non-Catholic Christian denominations around the world against these deplorable acts by the Catholic Clergy.

It seems Protestants have forgotten Martin Luther's struggle, known as the Reformation, against the Catholic Church in the 1500's, which eventually led to a break with the Church in Rome. Thereby ignoring key ideas of the Reformation which were —a call to purify the church, and a belief that the Bible, not tradition, should be the sole source of spiritual authority. 

Maybe the Pope, Priests, Pastors and many of us as individual believers, should read Mathew 18-verse 10 again, to remind us how special children are, not only to us, but also to God : "See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."

But were this article in the Guardian goes wrong, is to state that "it is too late for change". It is never too late to change.

Read more at It’s too late. Not even Pope Francis can resurrect Catholic Ireland | Fintan O’Toole | Opinion | The Guardian

Vatican: Pope urges end to ‘carnage’ in Syria in Easter message

 Pope Francis called on Sunday (April 1) for an end to “carnage” in Syria and “reconciliation” in the Middle East in his traditional Easter message.

“Today we implore fruits of peace upon the entire world, beginning with the beloved and long-suffering land of Syria,” the pontiff said in the “Urbi et Orbi” (To the City and the World) address

Appealing to the “consciences of all political and military leaders”, Pope Francis urged “that a swift end may be brought to the carnage” as tens of thousands of pilgrims listened in St Peter’s Square and millions watched the speech broadcast live around the world.

Read more: Pope urges end to ‘carnage’ in Syria in Easter message, Europe News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Vatican: Pope shocks Chile ( and the World) by accusing sex abuse victims of slander

Pope Francis accused victims of Chile's most notorious pedophile of slander Thursday, an astonishing end to a visit meant to help heal the wounds of a sex abuse scandal that has cost the Catholic Church its credibility in the country.

Francis said that until he sees proof that Bishop Juan Barros was complicit in covering up the sex crimes of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, such accusations against Barros are "all calumny."

The pope's remarks drew shock from Chileans and immediate rebuke from victims and their advocates. They noted the accusers were deemed credible enough by the Vatican that it sentenced Karadima to a lifetime of "penance and prayer" for his crimes in 2011. A Chilean judge also found the victims to be credible, saying that while she had to drop criminal charges against Karadima because too much time had passed, proof of his crimes wasn't lacking.

"As if I could have taken a selfie or a photo while Karadima abused me and others and Juan Barros stood by watching it all," tweeted Barros' most vocal accuser, Juan Carlos Cruz. "These people are truly crazy, and the pontiff talks about atonement to the victims. Nothing has changed, and his plea for forgiveness is empty."

The Karadima scandal dominated Francis' visit to Chile and the overall issue of sex abuse and church cover-up was likely to factor into his three-day trip to Peru that began late Thursday.

Karadima's victims reported to church authorities as early as 2002 that he would kiss and fondle them in the swank Santiago parish he ran, but officials refused to believe them. Only when the victims went public with their accusations in 2010 did the Vatican launch an investigation that led to Karadima being removed from ministry.

The emeritus archbishop of Santiago subsequently apologized for having refused to believe the victims from the start.

Read more: Pope shocks Chile by accusing sex abuse victims of slander

Catholic Church: The A - Z list of concerns with Pope Francis - by J.H.Westen

The confusion caused by Pope Francis in the Catholic Church is out of control. There have been so many incidents over the last four years that the specifics, despite their grave damage, are often forgotten. In an effort to encourage prayer for an end to the confusion and disorientation in the Church, LifeSite presents the following A-Z list of concerns with Pope Francis.

A few days into his pontificate, Pope Francis praised one of Cardinal Kasper’s books and then selected Kasper to deliver the controversial keynote address to launch the synods on the family. Kasper was selected as a personal appointee of the pope to the synods and regularly meets with Pope Francis. Kasper defended the vote of the Irish in favor of homosexual “marriages”, saying: “A democratic state has the duty to respect the will of the people; and it seems clear that, if the majority of the people wants such homosexual unions, the state has a duty to recognize such r

Read more: The A - Z list of concerns with Pope Francis | Blogs | LifeSite

Italy: Catholic Church and Equal Rights - Anti-Gay Pope Francis Meets Sweden's Antje Jackelén Female Head Of Lutheran Church

The Vatican made history Monday when Pope Francis welcomed a woman archbishop to an official audience at the Apostolic Palace for the first time, according to Vatican Radio.

Archbishop Antje Jackelén, the first female head of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, tweeted her gratitude for the meeting to the pope, with a photograph of the two religious leaders chatting.

The pontiff has staunchly opposed ordination for women in the Catholic Church. “The Church has spoken and says no... That door is closed," he said in a July 2013 press conference.

The topic on Monday's agenda was not, however, women's role in the church, but rather the need for Christian unity across denominations and for better care for the poor. Francis addressed the archbishop as "esteemed Mrs. Jackelén, esteemed sister" in his call for charity.

“The call to unity as followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ includes an urgent call for a common effort on the charity front," Francis said, according to Vatican Insider. "The testimony of our brothers and sisters especially, pushes us to grow in fraternal communion."

Note EU-Digest:  in the meantime it was reported that the Pope - who in some eyes is a "wolf in sheep's clothing", has personally met with France’s proposed Gay ambassador to the Vatican – to tell him his appointment will be blocked because he is gay.

Read more: Pope Francis Meets With Female Head Of Church Of Sweden, Archbishop Antje Jackelén

Catholic Church: Vatican should understand they only exist as a 'theocracy' in Europe by the grace of the EU - by RM

French Predident Hollande with Laurent Stefanini

France stated on Wednesday March 15 it was standing by its choice to send a gay diplomat to the Vatican, despite three months of silence from the Holy See over the appointment. "France has chosen its ambassador to the Vatican.

The choice was for Laurent Stefanini and that remains the French proposal," government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said. "Negotiations are underway. Every ambassador must be approved when they are nominated ... we are awaiting the response from the Vatican," Le Foll added.

The lengthy delay in approving the candidate is seen as unusual and could indicate a rejection.

While the Vatican usually declares it has accepted a candidate around a month after an appointment is made, it makes no public statements at all if the answer is no.

The French cabinet approved the appointment of the 55-year-old Stefanini already on January 5 but has not yet received a reply.

The Vatican is the smallest "state" in the world with a population of 842 and has a landmass of only 110 acres.

 In 2007, the Vatican was also silent for months when the last gay ambassador was appointed. Eventually, France was forced to select another ambassador.

All this in spite of Pope Francis' PR comments regarding the church accepting LGBT individuals, he has publicly spoken out against same-sex marriage and adoption.

In this modern day and age - and basically already since Martin Luther and John Calvin broke the iron grip of the Catholic church on Europe with the reformation, the whole concept of the Vatican as a state is questionable to say the least.

Although the 1984 concordat states that the Catholic religion is no longer the sole religion of Italy, in 2007 the Church objected to the introduction of an omnibus religious freedom law which would “put the Catholic Church on the same level as religious sects” . This law has still not been passed in Italy and should be.

According to the EU's Copenhagen criteria which define what states are eligible to join the EU, a candidate state must be a free market democracy. Given that the Holy See is a theocracy it does not meet the criteria. Basically case closed - however as it is small, and surrounded by an EU state, it is closely linked to the EU. The Holy See has an open border with the EU and even intends to join the Schengen Information System.  It also uses the euro as its sole currency and has an agreement with the EU allowing them to mint their own coins.

The EU gave Italy authority to negotiate a deal with the Holy See in 2000, which allowed the Holy See to mint a maximum of €670,000. After a review of the arrangements, a new agreement came into force in 2010 which allowed the Holy See to mint €1 million a year (plus up to an additional €300,000 on special occasions).

With the above in mind, the Vatican should really start to comprehend that they exist as a "nation" only by the grace of the EU. They can not circumvent or disobey established EU Human Rights rules or impose their views on any member state, regardless of the fact they still seem to believe to qualify standing above established international laws. 

EU-Digest

Religion - Evolution - Creation: Pope Francis declares evolution and Big Bang theory are real and God is not 'a magician with a magic wand' -

The theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real and God is not “a magician with a magic wand”, Pope Francis has declared.

Speaking at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pope made comments which experts said put an end to the “pseudo theories” of creationism and intelligent design that some argue were encouraged by his predecessor, Benedict XVI. 

Francis explained that both scientific theories were not incompatible with the existence of a creator – arguing instead that they “require it”.

“When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” Francis said.

“The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but, rather, requires it.

“Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”

The Catholic Church has long had a reputation for being anti-science – most famously when Galileo faced the inquisition and was forced to retract his “heretic” theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun.

But Pope Francis’s comments were more in keeping with the progressive work of Pope Pius XII, who opened the door to the idea of evolution and actively welcomed the Big Bang theory. In 1996, John Paul II went further and suggested evolution was “more than a hypothesis” and “effectively proven fact”.

Read more: Pope Francis declares evolution and Big Bang theory are real and God is not 'a magician with a magic wand' - Europe - World - The Independent

Set-Back for Gays: Catholic bishops veto gay-friendly statements leaving Pope Francis the loser - by Lizzy Davies

Pope Francis appeared on Saturday night to have lost out to powerful conservatives in the Roman Catholic church after bishops scrapped language that had been hailed as a historic warming of attitudes towards gay people.

In the final report of an extraordinary synod on the family which has exposed deep divides in the church hierarchy, there is no mention – as there had been in a draft version – of the “gifts and qualities” gay people can offer. Nor is there any recognition of the “precious support” same-sex partners can give each other.

A paragraph entitled “pastoral attention to people of homosexual orientation” – itself a distinctly cooler tone than “welcoming homosexual persons” – refers to church teaching, saying there can be “not even a remote” comparison between gay unions and heterosexual marriage.

“Nevertheless,” it adds, “men and women of homosexual tendencies must be welcomed with respect and sensitivity.” They should not suffer from discrimination, it adds. But the shift in tone is clear. And, in a potentially stark sign of the discomfort provoked among many bishop, even this watered-down passage failed to pass the two-thirds majority needed for it to be approved.

Read more: Catholic bishops veto gay-friendly statements leaving Pope Francis the loser | World news | The Observer

Religion - Catholics: In rare public split, as bishops differ sharply on anti-gay and abortion laws - by David Gibson

The Roman Catholic hierarchy has generally been viewed as a unified bloc in opposition to gay rights, but the emergence of especially punitive measures against gays in various countries has opened unusually stark and public fissures among bishops in different nations.

The divisions are also raising questions about whether Pope Francis, who has struck a charitable tone toward gays and lesbians, needs to take action.

Note EU-Digest: Christianity does not imply uniformity.  It is about open hearts, open minds, open doors. It certainly does not mean “empty” minds. As the Bible says: "Come near to God, and He will come near to you.” (James 4: 8)

Read more: In rare public split, Catholic bishops differ sharply on anti-gay laws - The Washington Post

Switzerland: "A reality Check" - Davos Disconnects - by Paul Stoller

Since its inception the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland has attracted an ever-increasing amount of media attention. This year was no exception.

Four thousand high-powered business executives, global leaders (presidents and ministers) not to forget celebrities like Matt Damon and Goldie Hawn converged on the exclusive Swiss resort to attend sessions, to wine, to dine, to schmooze, to make deals and to be entertained.

Amid the hoopla these "stakeholders" discussed the dangers of technologically induced employment reduction, the possibility of doing business with Iran and the increasing stability of the Eurozone.

This year Davos attendees also discussed the social responsibility of global elites to confront and remedy the persistent presence of income inequality.

Focusing on the Davos debate about the distribution of wealth, Katrin Bennhold of The New York Times quoted Pope Francis, who challenged the attendees to change the dynamic of income inequality.

The message of the Pope said: "The growth of inequality demands something more than economic growth, even though it presupposes it," Pope Francis said in a message read by one of his cardinals at the conference. "It also calls for decisions, mechanisms and processes directed to a better distribution of wealth, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality.

In addition the Pope added his plea to the conference attendees, "I ask you to ensure that humanity is served by wealth and not ruled by it."

Given the tone and texture of his papacy, it is clear that Pope Francis has direct experience of poverty. Can we say the same for the movers and shakers of the global elite who attended the WEF? How can these economic leaders, the vast majority of whom have little direct experience with economic hardship, have any idea what to do about it? A one-hour radically chic sensitivity session is not likely change a corporate ethos in which the world is ruled rather than served by wealth.

Which leads me to a Davos disconnect -- about assumptions. Global elites tend to look upon the world through economic lenses. This practice makes perfect economic sense, but fails to consider sufficiently, as does Pope Francis and most social scientists, the social dimensions of economic relations. From the beginnings of complex society thousands of years ago, economic and social inequality have been inextricably intertwined. Indeed most of our social systems have been constructed to reinforce social inequality rather than to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots.

Might it not be better for Davos delegates to spend more time among those whose worlds are in desperate states? If that were the case the aforementioned Davos disconnects would be less glaring. If that were the case, WEF dialogues might compel a degree of real economic and social change.

Now that would be a breath of fresh mountain air.

Read the complete report: Davos Disconnects | Paul Stoller

Vatican: Person of the Year 2013 Pope Francis, The People's Pope

Pope Francis Person of the Year

What makes this Pope so important is the speed with which he has captured the imaginations of millions who had given up on hoping for the church at all. People weary of the endless parsing of sexual ethics, the buck-passing infighting over lines of authority when all the while (to borrow from Milton), “the hungry Sheep look up, and are not fed.” In a matter of months, Francis has elevated the healing mission of the church—the church as servant and comforter of hurting people in an often harsh world—above the doctrinal police work so important to his recent predecessors. John Paul II and Benedict XVI were professors of theology. Francis is a former janitor, nightclub bouncer, chemical technician and literature teacher.

And behind his self-effacing facade, he is a very canny operator. He makes masterly use of 21st century tools to perform his 1st century office. He is photographed washing the feet of female convicts, posing for selfies with young visitors to the Vatican, embracing a man with a deformed face. He is quoted saying of women who consider abortion because of poverty or rape, “Who can remain unmoved before such painful situations?” Of gay people: “If a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge.” To divorced and remarried Catholics who are, by rule, forbidden from taking Communion, he says that this crucial rite “is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.”

Through these conscious and skillful evocations of moments in the ministry of Jesus, as recounted in the Gospels, this new Pope may have found a way out of the 20th century culture wars, which have left the church moribund in much of Western Europe and on the defensive from Dublin to Los Angeles. But the paradox of the papacy is that each new man’s success is burdened by the astonishing successes of Popes past. The weight of history, of doctrines and dogmas woven intricately century by century, genius by genius, is both the source and the limitation of papal power. It radiates from every statue, crypt and hand-painted vellum text in Rome—and in churches, libraries, hospitals, universities and museums around the globe. A Pope sets his own course only if he can conform it to paths already chosen.

And so Francis signals great change while giving the same answers to the uncomfortable questions. On the question of female priests: “We need to work harder to develop a profound theology of the woman.” Which means: no. No to abortion, because an individual life begins at conception. No to gay marriage, because the male-female bond is established by God. “The teaching of the church … is clear,” he has said, “and I am a son of the church, but”—and here he adds his prayer for himself—“it is not necessary to talk about those issues all the time.”

Read morel TIME's Person of the Year 2013 Pope Francis, The People's Pope | TIME.com

US Politics and Religion: Pope Remarks:"You Can't Serve Two Masters"- Provokes Free-Market Right-Wing Freakout-by RM

Following the Catholic Pope Francis’s much-publicized Joy of the Gospel document, which critiqued uncontrolled capitalism and insinuated that thoroughly discredited trickle-down economics is naïve and just plain wrong,  right-wingers outdid themselves in hitting back at the Pope .

But lets face it  : what is so wrong with what the Pope wrote: "Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape. Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a “throw away” culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the “exploited” but the outcast, the “leftovers”.

Fox Business host Stuart Varney was just stewing about the pontiff’s remarks. “Capitalism, in my opinion, is a liberator,” he lectured Pope Francis from his television pulpit. “The free choice of millions of people is the essence of freedom. In my opinion, society benefits most when people are free to pursue their own self-interest. I know that sounds like a contradiction, but it is not.” It isn’t. It just isn’t." 

"Oh, yeah, and another thing. The pope has no business mixing politics with religion. Especially when his political views diverge with those of Fox."

Said Varney, “I go to church to save my soul. It’s got nothing to do with my vote. Pope Francis has linked the two. He has offered direct criticism of a specific political system. He has characterized negatively that system. I think he wants to influence my politics.”

Varney said Pope John Paul II was much more to his liking because as he said  Pope John Paul II was very much against communism, and far more into private property. Farney said Pope John Paul II never made rich people feel bad for having too much, while millions of others went without.

But whatever way you turn it, Pope Francis does not seem to mince words, which is going to make life very difficult for Catholic politicians (and many Christians), who want to trumpet their faith while at the same time bowing to the Golden Calf of Wall Street.

Gone, it seems, are the days when a Conservative politician could say “I’m pro-life” and that would be the end of the discussion as far as the Catholic/Christian hierarchy in the world were concerned.

There’s a new "shepherd" in town and he seems to be very concerned about the present deteriorating structure of the world economic system and the behavior of The Powers That Be within it.

Jesus once told a story about The Powers That Be of his day, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a Pharisee (equivalent of a today's Priest) was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. . . .and did not help him.

Francis, based on what he wrote in his Joys of the Gospel seems to be a much different kind of priest than the one in the biblical story, and he wants the TPTB's of today to sit up and listen.

Pope Francis's statements certainly are a wake-up call for all those "Bible pounding Christians" and politicians, who believe they are holier than holy and  "talk the talk, but don't walk the walk".

As the bible says in Matthew 6-verse 24 "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money".


EU-Digest

Vatican Intrigue: The Pact that Secured More than Ninety Votes for New Pope - by M.Antonietta Calabrò

But what were the agreements, the groupings and the voting blocks that led to the election of Cardinal Bergoglio (now Pope Francis)?

A brief and necessarily blunt summary would be that the new pontiff was the result of an agreement struck by the dean of the college, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Cardinal Giovan Battista Re, the Curia led by the current secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (who supported Cardinal Odilo Scherer but had to back down when Scherer criticised Cardinal Re at the general congregation), and the cardinals from the United States. Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York was swift to put an American stamp on the election of a New World pope two hours after Francis appeared on the Loggia of the Blessings. “We are very happy about the result. It is a remarkably emotional experience”, he said, adding in an official statement that it was a “milestone for our Church”.

Italian cardinals presented a united front only in freezing out the cardinal of Milan, Angelo Scola, with even the Lombard cardinals voting against him. At the general congregation over the past few days, the cardinal non-elector and former Vatican representative at the UN for fifteen years, Raffaele Martino, has been picking and unpicking alliances. He knows the American diocese well and as a former president of the pontifical commission Justitia et Pax he has always been involved in the most contentious social issues. At the 2005 conclave, Cardinal Martino opposed Ratzinger and supported Bergoglio.

But according to Catholic theology, isn’t it the Holy Spirit that chooses the Pope? Once many years ago, this question was put to the then Cardinal Ratzinger ( now retired pope), the prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith and guardian of orthodoxy. With a certain dose of irony, he replied: “I wouldn’t say that, in the sense that it is the Holy Spirit that does the choosing, His role should be understood in a more flexible sense, probably the only certainty He offers is that the whole business won’t be a total disaster”.

Pope Francis shares that sense of irony. When he accepted, he told the cardinals: “Dear brethren, may God forgive you”.

Read more: The Pact that Secured More than Ninety Votes for New Pope - Corriere della Sera