“Not only do they not have the figures to bring in a guy like Cardinal Sarah or (Hungarian Cardinal Peter), but they don’t even have the figures to be a blocant minority against the Liberals,” said Benjamin Harnwell, a correspondent based in Italy for the Steve Bannon War Show. “It is a non -Catholic conclave.”
A well -known Italian adage goes “fat pope, thin pope”, which means that conclaves tend to counterbalance the previous one with an ideological change.
Intimidation tactics
One thing that has changed since the last conclave in 2013 is that lobbying has become digital.
With a proliferation of conservative blogs and influencers on social media, the campaign this time is “as I saw before,” said Stephen Schneck, former director of the Political Research and Catholic Research Institute of the Catholic University of America. “A flowing flowing of real analyzes, opinions and campaign by external groups and influencers is underway,” he said, suggesting that its immediacy and its scope could make a difference.
Frontrunners are concerned about what can emerge. A video by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, among the most likely to succeed Francis, singing a karaoke interpretation of John Lennon by John Lennon, was published by the right -wing website LifeSitenews, with criticism claiming words such as “imagine that there is no paradise” are a “discount to atheism”.
“They know that they do not have the figures, so the objective is to intimidate the reformists,” said Vatican veteran Watcher and journalist Marco Politi. “The message is:” Look, you can’t choose a Francis II. It is a psychological game. “”
But once the cardinals are in the sixtine chapel, they are removed from external interference.
“It is difficult to say what will happen in this boiler room,” said the Vatican ambassador. “The best possible plans do not always survive in contact with reality. This group of cardinals never had the opportunity to know each other. They always stretch their muscles, to see what kinds of people they are. ”
