While many contradictory pieces of information are circulating these days about the mysterious health conditions of Pope Francis, it is evident to everyone that the pre-conclave is in a new, intense phase. As of today, one of the favorites in the race for the Papacy and destined to succeed Francis is certainly Cardinal Pietro Parolin, an Italian from Vicenza, who joined the Secretariat of State when he was still young and was appointed its head in August 2013 by Pope Francis, just five months after his papal election. He succeeded Tarcisio Bertone, who resigned due to age limits. He was made a cardinal in February 2014.
Parolin is seen as the favorite for the next conclave, as after twelve years of Bergoglian reign, it seems unlikely that a clearly aligned candidate, such as the progressives Matteo Zuppi or Luis Tagle, will win. Therefore, an effort will be made to favor the election of a compromise pope, apparently capable of satisfying (at least partially) the expectations of both progressives and conservatives, without frightening or disappointing either side. Well, Pietro Parolin seems perfect for this role. A skilled diplomat, a man with a hieratic appearance, neither too young nor too old (70 years), he appears to many as a man capable of mediating and finding 'painless' solutions.
However, it is only an appearance, a smokescreen. Parolin would be, as I said, the perfect successor to Francis. Only more cautious than him. Even if Parolin can be presented by neo-modernist electors as the compromise candidate, it is very likely that he was in their intentions from the very first planning of the next conclave. Let's not forget what happened during the 2013 Conclave. As reconstructed by the French journalist Daniel Hamiche, the cardinals of the San Gallo Group [Saint Gallen Mafia] initially presented the Brazilian cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer as their candidate, an apparent moderate, actually known for many of his progressive sympathies, which emerged during Francis' reign and particularly following the Synod for the Amazon. However, Scherer's name was a "decoy," a diversion to draw attention away from the real candidate, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who was then proposed, or reintroduced (as he was also prominent during the 2005 conclave), as the "compromise pope." Many conservatives fell into the trap and redirected their votes to the former archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Parolin was introduced into the diplomatic circle of the Holy See in 1983, when he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the training school for all Vatican diplomats. The Vatican diplomatic world at that time was managed by Agostino Casaroli, Vatican Secretary of State, and Achille Silvestrini, the true mastermind behind the future so-called St. Gallen Mafia.
Hamiche, already in 2019, suspected the existence of a similar project concerning Parolin. In this sense, Tagle (now Zuppi) might only be a "decoy name," a deliberately unviable candidate to make Parolin seem more centrist and acceptable. Indeed, even at his time, Bergoglio was not known for his modernist sympathies. Many cardinals confided, after 2013, that they had even voted for him without really knowing him, simply because they trusted the judgment of the voting majority, which was now shifting towards him. Some knew Bergoglio for his past as an (apparent) conservative; there were rumors of Peronist sympathies, always in line with the Church's official doctrine on marriage and family.
This was, however, the presentation of a distorted picture of him, as in his homeland he was well known for certain positions and friendships or sympathies with individuals not entirely aligned with Church doctrine (such as Monsignor Justo Laguna). This portrayal was circulated to make the "Bergoglio pill" more palatable to the conservative faction of the 2013 conclave.This ambiguity is, therefore, a common element between the figures of Bergoglio and Parolin.
A rapid career in the Vatican diplomatic world
Returning to our subject, it is worth remembering that he was introduced at a very young age into the diplomatic circle of the Holy See, starting as early as 1983, when he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the training school for all Vatican diplomats. To be clear, the Vatican diplomatic world at that time was managed by two notoriously known figures: Agostino Casaroli, Vatican Secretary of State, and his alter ego Achille Silvestrini, presented by historian Julia Meloni as the true mastermind behind the future so-called St. Gallen Mafia. It was particularly under Silvestrini's wing that Parolin received his training.
In 1986, he graduated in canon law with a thesis on the Synod of Bishops. A great precursor, one might say! After serving in various nunciatures, he returned to Rome in 1992 when Sodano was Secretary of State. Having then become Undersecretary for Relations with States, he emerged for his ability to handle very difficult negotiations. For unclear reasons, in 2006, under Benedict XVI's reign, Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone decided to replace him. Perhaps following the typically Vatican logic of promoveatur ut amoveatur (‘promote to remove’), Bertone sent Parolin to one of the most challenging nunciatures of the time, that of Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. Here, the prelate from Vicenza came into contact with Edgar Peña Parra, a highly controversial figure whose shadows have never been fully clarified.
Even today, Parolin and Peña Parra remain among Francis' closest collaborators. When Bergoglio was elected in 2013, Cardinal Silvestrini returned to the scene to advise the newly elected pope, whose election he had directly favored. Parolin's name was proposed to replace the resigning Bertone. Francis appreciated Parolin’s experience in Latin America, shaped by liberation theology or, more precisely, by la Teología del pueblo, ‘theology of the people,’ a typically Argentine doctrine of compromise with less pronounced red hues, born following the Medellín Conference (Colombia, 1968).
According to Parolin, the Second Vatican Council has been “implemented, resumed, and relaunched” by Pope Francis. "The Council has introduced a new style and new germs into the life of the Church," says Parolin. Among these "germs" are those of "synodality and conciliarity at all levels of the Church: no more parishes and dioceses without a pastoral council, no more nations without an episcopal conference."
The Manifesto (almost unnoticed) of his possible Pontificate
On November 14, 2017, Parolin gave a lectio magistralis at the prestigious Catholic University of America in Washington DC. This lecture was given on the occasion of the honorary conferment of his doctorate in theology and was titled “The Council: A Prophecy that Continues with Pope Francis.” His text is not available online, not even on the University’s website. There is only the video on the University's YouTube channel (one wonders how long it will remain available).
According to Parolin, the Second Vatican Council has been “implemented, resumed, and relaunched” by Pope Francis. The Council is presented as the "new paradigm of a world-dimension Church," an event that could even be analogous to the transition "from Judeo-Christianity to Pagan-Christianity." In other words, Vatican II would have marked the shift from a Eurocentric Church to a truly global one with consequences "of no small importance," such as the Bugnini Mass (no longer in Latin) and the emergence of a "theology of the local Church." He explicitly quoted the controversial French theologian Joseph Doré, who since 2001 has been an assiduous attendee of the revolutionary St. Gallen Group.
"The Council has introduced a new style and new germs into the life of the Church," says Parolin. Among these "germs" are those of "synodality and conciliarity at all levels of the Church: no more parishes and dioceses without a pastoral council, no more nations without an episcopal conference." And again: "The monarchical figure, essential in Catholic ecclesiology, has certainly not been denied, but complemented and balanced by synodality." Thus, the Church has transitioned from "a Church that convenes councils to a Church that lives conciliarity." Another way of saying that the Church, under Francis, has become a permanent synod. The aforementioned historian Julia Meloni observed, two years later, that this speech could be interpreted as the programmatic manifesto of his eventual pontificate, important not so much for its content (almost identical to Francis' one: synodality, collegiality, conciliarism, attention to the economically poor, environmentalism) but for the new style and manner in which he would want to communicate.
If Francesco appeared as a pope with direct, provocative, at times rough communication, certainly never naive or improvised (at least, certainly in the first part of his Pontificate), and yet caused numerous divisions and internal pseudo-schisms, Parolin proposes a more refined, diplomatic communication style, apparently well-disposed to "dialogue even within the Church," as he himself said in the aftermath of the Correctio filialis promoted by 62 theologians against the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia and in front of Pope Francis’ obstinate silence.
In an interview in 2018, Parolin referred to the necessity of "finding new and creative ways for the presence of women in the Church. In particular," said the cardinal, "there is a need for women to be more involved in formative and decision-making processes."
Positions on Priestly Celibacy
During his tenure in the Vatican Secretariat of State, Parolin has repeatedly expressed significant positions on various topics. In an interview given to the newspaper America Oggi in October 2018, the cardinal referred to the necessity of "finding new and creative ways for the presence of women in the Church. In particular," said the cardinal, "there is a need for women to be more involved in formative and decision-making processes." As early as 2013, and then again in October 2018, exactly one year before the controversial Synod for the Amazon began, Parolin expressed, during the aforementioned interview, his support for a possible opening to the abolition of priestly celibacy.
"The priestly celibacy is not a dogma of the Church," he said. "I am convinced that today we need to question whether celibacy is lived in all its potential and whether it is appreciated and valued in each particular Church. I would not expect any drastic change on this aspect, except in the perspective of a gradual deepening." This phrase is emblematic of Parolin's style: the revolution should not be done in a "drastic" manner, that is, immediate, but with "gradual deepening," that is, through various phases, according to the Fabian technique of the Overton Window, that is, according to Noam Chomsky's famous "boiled frog principle." The same position is shared by other prelates very close to Bergoglio, such as Cardinal Cláudio Hummes (1934-2022).
The Secret Agreements Between the Vatican and Beijing
We must not and cannot forget that Parolin is the true mastermind behind the secret agreements between China and the Vatican, so desired by Francis and first signed in 2018 after a long process, which greatly outraged the Chinese cardinal and emeritus archbishop of Hong Kong, Joseph Zen Ze-kiun. In these agreements, we can see the entire diplomatic legacy of Agostino Casaroli, the controversial Vatican Secretary of State during the reign of John Paul II, from 1979 to 1990, who was a proponent of Ostpolitik towards the Soviet Union and other communist powers orbiting around it.
According to Parolin, these agreements would have guaranteed the Chinese Church "greater freedom." Cardinal Zen's response was very harsh, accusing Parolin of quoting out of context a letter from Pope Benedict XVI, which stated: "the solution to existing problems cannot be pursued through a permanent conflict with legitimate civil authorities," omitting the part that condemned undue interference by the same in matters of faith and ecclesiastical discipline. Admitting and not conceding that the Chinese communists are "legitimate" authorities, as Parolin unfortunately seems to have declared on that occasion.
Cardinal Zen saying the traditional Latin Mass
History then disproved the Secretary of State and proved Cardinal Zen right, because, as various external analysts have declared, the Vatican has in fact submitted to the will of the Chinese Communist Party. "It seems that prudence and caution are the order of the day in the Vatican's negotiations with the totalitarians in charge in Beijing, in whose latest Party Congress religion was once again declared an enemy of communism," declared George Weigel after the agreement. Cardinal Zen finally invited the Secretary of State to resign. These agreements, whose terms regarding the appointment of bishops - we reiterate - are not officially known, are extremely problematic because they could favor a Chinese schism in the future. The official Catholic Church in China is controlled by the Patriotic Association, a direct emanation of the Communist Party. True Catholics who want to be faithful to the magisterium live "underground" and persecuted as enemies of the state. According to reliable sources, China would appoint the bishops and the Pope would hold a simple right of veto.
We must not and cannot forget that Parolin is the true mastermind behind the secret agreements between China and the Vatican. Ultimately, Pietro Parolin's pro-Chinese policy is perhaps his greatest flaw and failure, which could cost him more than anything else in the Conclave.
In 2020, Cardinal Zen went to Rome to try to dissuade Francis from renewing the agreements, in vain. The secret agreements were renewed in 2020, in 2022, and again in 2024 for another four years, with general enthusiasm. By virtue of this agreement, seven bishops previously ordained without papal approval were also reinstated in communion with Rome, two of whom were found to be married. Even more seriously, Cardinal Zen—almost testifying with his life to what he had supported until then—was arrested in Hong Kong in May 2022 by the Hong Kong national security police on suspicion of "collusion with foreign forces to endanger China's national security." Ultimately, Pietro Parolin's pro-Chinese policy is perhaps his greatest flaw and failure, which could cost him more than anything else in the Conclave.
Parolin, the Pope of the Bilderberg Club?
In February 2016, a very interesting interview appeared online with the former Grand Master 33rd Degree of the Grand Orient of Italy, Giuliano Di Bernardo, founder of the Regular Grand Lodge of Italy (the third most important Masonic obedience in Italy). In 2002, Di Bernardo decided to leave the Masonic government to dedicate himself to the foundation and direction of two initiatory projects, the Dignity Order and the Academy of the Illuminati. "Until that moment," said the illustrious Mason, "I had never had relations with the ecclesiastical hierarchies, also due to their closure towards the Grand Orient. Then the attitude changed. Eldarov proposed that I meet in the Vatican, in the offices of the Secretariat of State, a man of great vision, the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Monsignor Pietro Parolin. A relationship of collaboration and esteem was born. Together we reflected on the destinies of humanity. I met him three or four times. Then he was sent as apostolic nuncio to Argentina and I lost contact. When he became Secretary of State, I sought him out to congratulate him and we reconnected."
Mons. Gheorghi Eldarov was the Vatican diplomat who, under Casaroli's order, investigated the Bulgarian trace of the attempt on Wojtyla. The relations between Eldarov and Freemasonry have never been sufficiently investigated, but what interests us here is the triangle cultivated for some time between the very influential internationally Masonic milieu of Giuliano Di Bernardo, the Vatican Secretariat of State, and Pietro Parolin. This triangle has been cultivated at least since 2002, but we know well that Italian Masonic lodges have had longae manus in the Vatican at least since the time of Leo XIII, then drastically increased starting from the immediate pre-council. In this regard, it is known that Saint Pio of Pietrelcina used to say, not without reason and with a vivid image, in the 1950s, that "Freemasonry had reached the Pope's slippers." "Pietro Parolin does not have a negative and hostile attitude towards Freemasonry," Di Bernardo still declared in the interview. "He believes that, in the future of humanity, thinking intellects belonging to different worlds can participate in a common project for the well-being of humanity."
"Pietro Parolin does not have a negative and hostile attitude towards Freemasonry," Di Bernardo declared. "He believes that, in the future of humanity, thinking intellects belonging to different worlds can participate in a common project for the well-being of humanity." These words from one of the highest Masonic authorities in Italy and the world may be a useful key to interpreting the most mysterious (and creepy) event of Parolin's tenure as Secretary of State.
These words from one of the highest Masonic authorities in Italy and the world may be a useful key to interpreting the most mysterious (and creepy) event of Parolin's tenure as Secretary of State. Between June 7 and 10, 2018, in Turin, Italy, Pietro Parolin participated along with other prominent European and North American figures in the annual closed-door meeting organized by the Bilderberg Group, a para-Masonic club founded by David Rockefeller in 1954 with the aim of coordinating European and American geopolitics in a socialist, "woke," and pro-Zionist key. Curiously, but perhaps it is a mere coincidence, this meeting in Turin took place simultaneously with the highly confidential meeting that Francis held in Rome on June 8 and 9 with finance and oil giants, titled "The Energy Transition and the Care of Our Common Home." What was Parolin doing at the Bilderberg meeting, which that year discussed, among other topics, strategies to counter the growing "populisms" worldwide, including Trump, who at the time had been in his first term as US President for just over a year?
It is no coincidence that, in recent years, Francis and Parolin have covertly (but not too covertly) supported the causes of the most important left-wing figures worldwide and opposed right-wing figures. We all remember the pope's grim face after Donald Trump's victory in 2016 and Javier Milei's victory in Argentina (against the Peronist Justicialist Party) in 2023. The sentiment must have been similar after Trump's unexpected second victory at the end of 2024. The most striking case is the recent war waged, under pressure from the Holy See, by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (Usccb) against Trump's anti-immigration policy for reasons of... money. Specifically, the abrupt halt in funding for refugee resettlement was deemed by American bishops to be an illegal and harmful decision, both for the newcomers to the country and for the reception programs managed by the American Catholic Church. As often happens in such situations, when the Church speaks about immigrants, it does so for the money allocated to immigrants, concealing it behind the people themselves.
The U.S. Church has always been a focus of attention for Francis and, consequently, his number two, the Secretary of State. This is because the U.S. Church, whose spirit was perfectly embodied by Bishop Fulton Sheen, has always been a conservative Church, not dependent on state subsidies (thus economically independent) and influential internationally. It is no coincidence, therefore, that in recent times U.S. bishops have been gradually marginalized and replaced, starting with the most important dioceses, with figures more aligned with the reigning sensitivity. Under Francis, especially in recent times, we have witnessed a significant leftward shift of the American Church. At least at the hierarchical level, because the faithful and the lower clergy, including the younger priests, have maintained their conservative tendency.
Parolin and the Opening to LGBT World
In 2019, as is well known, Frédéric Martel, a pro-LGBT French writer, published the scandalous book Sodoma: Enquête au cœur du Vatican, which, however, had the merit of exposing to the public the massive existence of a homosexual lobby in the Catholic Church and, more precisely, within the Vatican. The existence of this lobby had been well known for some time, but with Martel's book, names and roles were made public. On March 27, 2019, Martel—informed by someone—announced on his website that on the following April 5, Pope Francis would receive a very important group of LGBT activists, to then announce what he defined as "the decriminalization of homosexuality in the Church" (perhaps some document on the subject or a historically significant speech).
That news caused such a stir that the Pope's meeting was canceled, and the article was removed from Martel’s blog. Nevertheless, those LGBT activists who were supposed to meet Bergoglio met with Parolin in a more reserved and discreet manner on the same day. During the meeting, the Secretary of State "was very clear in saying that violence is always unacceptable, the Church is a Church of compassion," said Baroness Helena Kennedy, who was present at the meeting. "The Cardinal was very responsive to the idea of persecution, emphasizing that persecution in society is not acceptable." There is "no indication" of a date for a next meeting, but Parolin "was very clear that a process has been opened, a dialogue has been opened, a discussion has been opened, it is possible to hear LGBT reasons." The activists received in audience by Parolin are fighting for the decriminalization of homosexuality in Caribbean countries. According to them, the decriminalization process must necessarily go through a doctrinal change regarding the sexual morality of the Catholic Church, since, as is well known, Catholics are the majority in Caribbean countries.
Among the main spokespersons was Helena Kennedy, a British socialist lawyer and politician, very active in projects to change Catholic doctrine. She claims to be Catholic. In addition to her, there was also a longtime friend of Francis, the emeritus professor of criminology in Buenos Aires, Raúl Zaffaroni, who is also active in causes for the decriminalization and normalization of abortion.
However, the distancing of Parolin from Francis could turn into an advantage in the Conclave, when discontented cardinals react to the chaotic tyranny of recent years.
The Sabotage Against the Curia Reform Promoted by Cardinal Pell
A few months after his election as pope, on September 28, 2013, Francis established the Council of Cardinals, a group of nine cardinals tasked with radically reforming the Roman Curia, particularly the apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus of John Paul II. Among these nine were the Italians Pietro Parolin and Giuseppe Bertello (a diplomat with long experience), the German Reinhard Marx, the Honduran Oscar Maradiaga, and the American Sean Patrick O'Malley (three progressives), and finally the conservative Australian George Pell. The work of the nine cardinals culminated in Francis's new apostolic constitution on the Curia, Praedicate Evangelium, in 2022. In 2023, the pope modified the composition of the group, reducing it to seven cardinals and a bishop. The reformist group is still active, and among them, the only one remaining in continuity since 2013 is Pietro Parolin.
The inclusion of George Pell - a conservative - in the Council was most likely motivated by the need to give the idea of a plurality of voices. Parolin had to mediate, so to speak, between two reformist positions that he likely considered extreme or radical. On one side, the position of Cardinal Marx, and on the other, the position of Pell. Initially, there was an intention to reduce the importance of the Vatican Secretariat of State, but everything shifted later to the simple financial aspect. Pell intended to effectively reorganize the financial bodies of the Holy See and the Vatican City State, depriving the Secretariat of much of the control. However, Pietro Parolin acted in such a way as to exclude the Secretariat of State from the audit.
Curious coincidence, in 2017, Cardinal George Pell was charged by the Australian police with "serious sexual offenses" against minors, including rape. Convicted in December 2018, the cardinal was sentenced to six years in prison the following year. The cardinal declared himself innocent and appealed, but the conviction was initially confirmed. Meanwhile, Pell was removed from Rome, and his curial reform project was shelved. In November 2019, numerous formal defects in the procedural processes were reported by Judge Mark Weinberg, defects that led the High Court of Australia to admit that the cardinal was unjustly convicted. Why did the Australian magistrates convict Pell so hastily?
In 2020, some leaks revealed that Cardinal Becciu had arranged transfers totaling 700,000 euros sent to Australia to bribe Pell's accusers in the pedophilia trial from which he had been recently acquitted. The newspaper The Australian revealed shortly after that, in the report delivered to the federal police by the Australian financial crime control body, such a money transfer by unspecified "Vatican sources" was confirmed to falsify the accusations against Pell. Someone, therefore, in the Vatican, wanted to take Cardinal Pell out of the game. In an interview with an important Italian newspaper, Cardinal Pell declared: "All the major figures who worked together on the financial reform, each of us, with very few exceptions, has been attacked by the media on the level of reputation, in one way or another." What is certain is that the money came from the Secretariat of State, where Cardinal Angelo Becciu worked at the time as the first collaborator of Pietro Parolin, before being replaced in 2018 by an equally controversial figure, the aforementioned Edgar Peña Parra. Becciu, along with other collaborators, appeared before Vatican justice to account for their crimes, and the lawyers did not hesitate to declare that Parolin was aware of their activities.
Perhaps also as a result of all these affairs, whose responsibilities are still not entirely clear, Pope Francis decided in 2023 to entrust Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, with the task of working to achieve a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. Many saw this as an unusual decision, as diplomacy is typically the purview of the Secretariat of State. They also saw this as a sign of Parolin's "fall from grace" as Bergoglio's protégé (in November 2022, it was Tagle who apparently lost the papal favor).
However, this distancing of Parolin from Francis could turn into an advantage in the Conclave, when discontented cardinals react to the chaotic tyranny of recent years. Some analysts portray Parolin as an ideal candidate also due to his "uncertain health" (he was treated for a tumor in the past), an element that would compensate for his relatively young age and reduce the possibility of an annoyingly—for some—long papacy, like that of John Paul II. Note well: this last analysis I am making is not morbid, but a recurring consideration during the Conclave. After Bergoglio's election, for example, Cardinal Ricard revealed that Cardinal Bergoglio's age (he was 76 at the time) was one of the arguments advanced by his supporters during the 2013 Conclave in favor of his election.
In the event that this text reaches the Princes of the Church, called in the future to elect the new pope, let this writing also be accompanied by the most sincere prayer so that they may exercise the utmost discernment at the time of voting. Remembering that "he who enters the conclave as pope, often leaves - not always - as a simple cardinal."
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