Introduction by Bishop Joseph Strickland
Please read through this article prayerfully. As we look ahead to the next conclave, I urge you to pray fervently for the election of a truly Catholic pope. The Church is in a time of great trial, and we must be vigilant in guarding the faith that has been handed down to us.
While we know that the Holy Ghost assists us in the governance of the Church, He does not override the free will of men. It is possible for cardinals to elect someone who does not truly uphold the Catholic Faith, and if a man who has publicly embraced heresy were to be elected, he could not be a true pope. As St Robert Bellarmine and others have taught, a heretic cannot be the head of the Church because he is not a member of it.
Therefore, we must pray with great urgency — not only that the conclave chooses a worthy successor to St. Peter — but also for clarity and wisdom in recognizing whether the man elected is truly the pope. In these confusing times, we must remain steadfast in the unchanging truths of our faith, knowing that Our Lord will never abandon His Church.
Let us turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Peter and all the saints, asking for their intercession in this most critical matter.
Bishop Joseph E. Strickland,
Bishop Emeritus
(LifeSiteNews) — The cardinals will soon enter a new conclave, yet it remains unclear whether the man who will emerge will be a legitimate Successor of St. Peter.
An article recently published by LifeSiteNews reminds us that the papacy is a divine institution and was established by Our Lord Jesus Christ to achieve specific ends according to His divine will.
If we approach the election of a pope as we approach the election of a political leader, or if we view it as a contest between “liberals” and “conservatives,” we will have fundamentally misunderstood the nature of the office.
As another recent article explained:
The power and authority of the Roman Pontiff is immediate in the sense that it is received immediately from Christ and not through the agency of another person or groups of persons.
According to the current law of the Church, it is the cardinals who elect the pope. Yet it is always Our Lord Jesus Christ who confers jurisdiction on the elected candidate:
It is left to the Church to elect, or otherwise designate, the person who then obtains the power of universal jurisdiction by virtue of divine institution, i.e., immediately from Christ, not from those who have elected him.
It is the teaching of the Catholic Church that only a member of the male sex who is in possession of the use of reason and is a member of the Catholic Church can be elected pope. A member of the Catholic Church is one who is (i) baptized, (ii) publicly professes the Catholic faith and (iii) is subject to the lawful hierarchy. The non-baptized, public heretics, public schismatics, and public apostates are not eligible for election.
Our Lord will only confer papal jurisdiction on a man who fulfils the conditions which He has established. He will not confer it on an ineligible candidate, even if the cardinals were to choose such a man.
As the conclave approaches many will want to know more details about the cardinals who are regarded as papabile. In this article LifeSiteNews offers short profiles of eight men who are spoken of as being among the main contenders.
These profiles are not intended to endorse any candidate or to imply that they are members of the Church and eligible for election. They are simply intended to provide LifeSiteNews readers an introduction to who they are and what they stand for.
Longer profiles of some of these men will follow.
1. Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline – Archbishop of Marseille, France
Cardinal Aveline has been described as the most “Bergoglian” of the French bishops and it has also been reported that he is the man Francis wishes to succeed him. Aveline signed a positive statement of the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) about Fiducia Supplicans. This letter stated that the “blessings should be given as a sign of ‘unconditional and merciful welcome.’” Furthermore, it stated that “Fiducia Supplicans reminds us that those who are not in a position to commit themselves to the sacrament of marriage are not excluded from God’s love or from his Church.” And specified that “it is in particular through prayers of blessing, given in a spontaneous, ‘non-ritualized’ form (no. 36), without any sign likely to be assimilated with the celebration of marriage, that the Church’s ministers will be able to manifest this broad and unconditional welcome.”
Aveline has supported the process of “synodality”; he was on the drafting committee for the final report of the “Synod for Synodality” and has called for a “Mediterranean Synod”. He holds erroneous views on the subject of other religions and interreligious dialogue. For example, he has said: “Basically, religions are ways for men and women to seek answers to the great, simple questions of life. It’s better to have a religion that helps you, that doesn’t give you answers to questions you don’t ask yourself, but that helps you to truly experience life – that’s the most important thing.”
He has also stated: “The Catholic Church first recognizes the possibility of a positive role for other religions, as socio-cultural realities, in the general economy of salvation. This excludes an exclusivist position, which, on the basis of a narrow ecclesiocentrism, would deny non-Christian religions any salvific or revelatory value, relying on a hardened, and thus distorted, interpretation of the ancient Patristic adage: ‘Outside the Church, no salvation.’”
An in-depth study of Aveline’s theology can be found here.
2. Cardinal Stephen Brislin – Archbishop of Johannesburg, South Africa
Cardinal Brislin has welcomed Amoris Laetitia and taken the approach that Fiducia Supplicans is reconcilable with the teaching of the Church. He has previously praised Cardinal Fernandez, whose congregation produced Fiducia Supplicans, and who is one of the figures at the forefront of Francis’s agenda, as “a person who’s got a very broad vision.”
In the past Brislin has made orthodox statements on moral questions; he has condemned abortion and euthanasia. Like many other cardinals he seems to have manifested more liberal tendencies under Francis. In 2019 he allowed dissident group “We Are Church” to meet on church property, reversing a ban he had introduced in 2012. He has expressed public support for the Synod on Synodality, calling it “a wonderful opportunity for the Church.” The synodal journey, he said, is “something that we can develop more locally, to become that listening Church, that discerning Church, and really opening ourselves to God’s Holy Spirit.”
3. Cardinal Kurt Koch – Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity
Cardinal Koch is a man who opposes fundamental doctrines of the Church. His dicastery produced a radical blueprint for the destruction of the Catholic Church and its replacement with a new “Synodal Church.” Ecumenism has been longterm interest for Koch and, if this blueprint were implemented, the “Synodal Church” would become a global church without true authority or unity in doctrine. Koch also holds the heretical position that there is no need for a mission to the Jewish people as they can be saved under the Old Covenant. His dicastery has produced documents that contain heresy, both with regard to the nature of the Church and outreach to the Jews. He defends his rejection of the teaching of the Catholic Church by an appeal to Vatican II.
4. Cardinal Marc Ouellet – Archbishop Emeritus of Quebec
Cardinal Ouellet was once regarded as conservative but has become a strong supporter of the radical agenda of Francis. He supports Amoris Laetitia and has publicly criticized the dubia cardinals.
In 2024 Ouellet published a book entitled Word, Sacrament, Charism: Risks and Opportunities of a Synodal Church. This book sets out his endorsement of the radical programme of “synodality.” At the book launch he lauded the “great synodal movement that is spreading throughout the entire Church.”
Ouellet permitted his titular church in Rome, that of Santa Maria in Traspontina, to be used for the pagan rituals in honor of Pachamama, an Amazonian idol. On October 4 Francis welcomed the idol of Pachamama to the Vatican gardens; during the ceremony some clerics prostrated themselves before the idol. Ouellet said of this act of apostasy, that it “did not bother me.”
Ouellet has been identified as one of the cardinals most responsible for Traditionis Custodes. An order of nuns in his archdiocese, which had used the traditional rite exclusively since 1969, was forced to introduce the novus ordo rite. Ouellet was found guilty by a French court of unjustly expelling a nun from the community after she opposed his subversion of the order. The court described her expulsion as “infamous and vexatious,” and said it was executed without her having committed “the slightest offense.”
5. Cardinal Piero Parolin – Secretary of State
Cardinal Parolin is one of the most determined supporters of the radical agenda of Francis. He is zealous in his support for synodality, which he regards as the continuation of Vatican II. He supports Amoris Laetitia and rejects Catholic teaching on capital punishment. He has praised the Abu Dhabi declaration and has a naturalistic view of religion, raising the possibility that he ought to be considered a public apostate. He has undermined Catholic teaching on contraception. Parolin was, with Ouellet and Versaldi, among those pushing for Traditionis Custodes.
After Francis, he is the man most responsible for the Vatican-China agreement which legitimized the “Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association,” a schismatic sect controlled by the Chinese Communist regime. Cardinal Zen, the former Archbishop of Hong Kong, has accused Parolin of “shameless surrender” to Communism and of “producing” a “united schismatic Church” in China.
Zen has said:
I don’t think he has faith. He is just a good diplomat in a very secular, mundane meaning.
As early as 2013, Zen had warned that Parolin “has a poisoned mind” and that “he believes in diplomacy, not in our faith.”
A longer profile of Cardinal Parolin can be found here.
6. Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle – Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization
Cardinal Tagle has a history of strongly aligning with Francis on “progressive” issues, promoting a “Synodal Church,” endorsing Laudato Si against “misguided anthropocentrism,” as well as denying that there is a “formula for all” when it comes to upholding the Church’s prohibition of Holy Communion for the divorced and “remarried.” He has referenced Francis in taking a similar approach to contraception, stating: “particular cases must be addressed individually, and they must be brought to the confessors, and the confessors must bring with them hearts of compassion and understanding as they evaluate particular situations and cases. There he was able to blend fidelity to teaching, and at the same time, seeing how individual cases are unique.”
Tagle participated in the Pachamama ritual in the Vatican Gardens in 2019. He has also defended the Vatican-China agreement. Tagle regards Francis as the continuation of Vatican II. Tagle has been called the “Philippine Pope Francis.”
A more in-depth examination of Tagle can be found here.
7. Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça – Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education
Cardinal Tolentino is strongly liberal and has supported many aspects of Francis’s agenda, including Amoris Laetitia. Tolentino believes that “synodality” is “very important” and will “mark the Church of the future.”
In 2010 Tolentino said “the Church isn’t a place of fullness, it’s a place of searching. Our condition is thirst and desire. It isn’t here and now that we realize our dreams. The Church is this common road, not exempt from imperfections, open to a kind of progressivity.”
He added the Church must have an “unconditional” sense of “welcome and hospitality.” He also contradicted the Church’s command of chastity for people with homosexual inclinations, saying it “is a proposal that cannot be imposed, but that is made. Each person who approaches the Church carries a sacred story and must be welcomed.”
In 2013, Tolentino de Mendonca wrote a preface for a book by the “feminist” Sister Maria Teresa Forcades i Vila, who has a history of being opposed to laws against abortion, being in favor of homosexuality, and promoting female “ordination.”
The Cardinals Report suggests that he may support “ongoing discussion and discernment regarding women’s roles in Church ministry, and other issues such as celibacy and inclusion of those in same-sex relationships.”
A more detailed look at Toletino can be found here.
8. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi – Archbishop of Bologna, Italy
Cardinal Zuppi has a history of supporting positions in contradiction with the perennial teachings and practices of the Catholic Church.
Among these include Zuppi’s support for Holy Communion for the divorced and “remarried,” the blessing of homosexual “couples,” his openness to making clerical celibacy optional, his insinuating he would be open to reversing the Church’s unchangeable ban on contraception, and his promotion of interreligious prayer with Muslims. He is a strong supporter of synodality.
Zuppi has approved of an LGBT pilgrimage to Rome for the 2025 jubilee. The first blessing of a same-sex “couple” in Italy under Fiducia Supplicans took place in Zuppi’s diocese, with his knowledge.
One of Italy’s leading Freemasons has said Zuppi would be “a very good pope.”
A more detailed examination of Zuppi can be found here.
Conclusion
These eight cardinals are among those who have been identified as having a realistic possibility of being elected at the next conclave. But whichever cardinal is elected, we will have certainty that he is not the pope if he fails to fulfil even one of the conditions required by divine law. If there are well founded doubts as to whether one of the conditions has been met, the election will be doubtful and a doubtful pope is not the pope.
Let us pray that Almighty God, may soon, in the way that pleases Him, grant us a true and holy pope.
