What are the chances of the next Pope being Catholic?

Thanks and a tip o' the biretta (the hat still worn by some Roman Catholic priests) to the good folks at Blazing Cat Fur for posting "The Scandals Haunting Pope Francis", about the travails of true believers to find a Catholic pope -- as in "Is the Pope Catholic?" -- to succeed the apostate Francis, whose papacy is coming to an end. 

"Scheming cardinals are sharpening their knives", the BCF squib says. "The cardinals are already meeting to discuss who should be the next pope. Some of the liberal ones, who feel safe because they're in favour with the ailing Pope Francis, can be seen comparing notes in a bar near the gates of the Vatican. The conservative cardinals are more nervous: they gather at suppers in each other’s apartments or — if they can trust the fawning waiters not to betray them — in a favourite restaurant."

The link at the end of the BCF article takes you to an excellent article by Damian Thompson, writing in UnHerd, analysing the pros and cons of the many cardinals -- liberal and traditional, left and right, unworthy and worthy -- who might be elected in the next conclave.

Mentioned near the end of Mr Thompson's article is Cardinal Pietro Parolin, presently the Vatican's Secretary of State. A lot of damage has been to Holy Mother Church by recent Secretaries of State, including Cardinals Casaroli, Sodano, and Bertone, who held the position under Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Jorge Bergoglio, who calls himself "Pope Francis".

In "'Peter the Roman' ready to take over from Pope Francis" (WWW 14/1/18), I wrote about Cardinal Parolin, already notorious for orchestrating the Vatican sell-out to Communist China, condemned by Joseph Cardinal Zen Zi-Kiun. The agreement to sell out Chinese Catholics was supposed to be a trial, but has now become permanent, because Cardinal Parolin wants it so. 

Cardinal Parolin seems poised to finalize the sell-out of the Church to the New World Order and its New World Religion now "progressing" (word chosen carefully) under Pope Bergoglio. Let us pray earnestly the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel: Defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Thanks to BCF commentator Canucklehead for the very apt illustration. But, Walt hears you ask, where is Cardinal Parolin in the picture? Answer: He made and served the tea! 

VIDEO: Hold the line! We ARE winning!

Many years ago, when I was eking out my tuition by playing piano in a [Shame on you if you thought  "brothel". In fact it was a Baptist church! Ed.] I learned a gospel song which began like this:

Ho, my comrades, see the signal, flashing through the sky,

Reinforcements now appearing, victory is nigh!

Hold the fort, for I am coming... etc

These lyrics flashed through my mind as I watched the latest episode of The Remnant Underground featuring Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant newspaper. Mr Matt talks about:

* the sacking of Raymond Cardinal Burke by Francis, the "Pope of Mercy", which has parked outrage from news networks all over the world. 

* Jewish economist, Jeffrey Sachs' about-face on Dr Fauci's Covid lies, denunciation of the Democrat Party, and allegations that Israel is committing war crimes. 

* The travails of Team Francis. Apparently the minions who arranged the Pope’s Abu Dhabi dialogue with the Grand Imam of al-Azhar didn't know the latter is an enthusiastic supporter of... wait for it... Hamas!

But wait (as Vince Offer used to say), there's more!

Late night comedians are openly mocking Greta Thunberg

Elon Musk says George Soros fundamentally hates humanity, and 

Klaus Schwab says he’s going to turn the freeways of the world into parks!

Mr Matt says all this is part of Globalism's mad dash to LaLa Land. Listen and marvel.

To return to my opening paragraph, Mr Matt says (and yr obdt servant agrees!) that all this is good news, for thes latest acts in the comedy of errors and nonsense portends the demise of the New World Order and New World Religion (the "Church of Francis") being promoted by Messrs Soros, Schwab and Bergoglio. 

These are the last acts of desperate (and desperately misguided) men, facing the decline and fall of their Brave New World. They've overstayed their welcome and overplayed their hand. All that is needed to consign them to the ash-heap of history is for us -- lovers of tradition, freedom, and Christian civilzation -- keep resisting the secular humanist overlords to their faces. 

As Tamara Lich, one of the organizers of the Freedom Convoy, says: Hold the line! As Michael Matt says: Don't lose hope; we are winning! Victory is nigh!  

VIDEO: Leading cardinal warns Vatican insiders out to destroy Church

For years now, most Roman Catholic bishops, priests and laypeople have been saying -- "hoping" would be a better word -- that their is no crisis in the Church, that everyone is onboard with the unoly crusade of the man who calls himself Pope Francis to merge the True Faith with all the other faiths into a One World Church, the religion of the New World Order.

That's a lie! Pope Bergoglio is opposed by millions of traditional Catholics who cling for dear life -- eternal life -- to the True Faith. This week, one of the most powerful princes of the Church, Gerhard Cardinal Müller, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, declared war on those inside the Vatican who are "occupying the Catholic Church" and, according to the Cardinal, engaging in a "hostile takeover."

In the latest edition of the Remnant Underground, Michael Matt presents and comments on portions of Raymond Arroyo's recent interview with the Cardinal Müller on the topic of Francis' "Church of Accompaniment". Listen as the prelate warns that if we don't resist, they will "destroy the Catholic Church!"

Note from Ed.: This is an edited version of the original Remnant Underground video. We wanted to focus solely on Raymond Arroyo's interview with Cardinal Müller, and Michael Matt's comments. In the first 15 minutes of so of the full-length video, Mr Matt talks about the election of Giorgina Meloni as Prime Minister of Italy, and the controversy over over which side we should take in the war in the Ukraine. Click here to see the video in its entirety on Remnant TV.

Francis silent as ChiComms put Cardinal Zen on trial

Walt is saddened, not not shocked, to report that Joseph Cardinal Zen, a longtime foe of the Chinese Communists, is the defendant in a show trial set to begin today in Hong Kong. You might think that the man who calls himself Pope Francis would spring to the defence of the retired Archbishop of Hong Kong, but you would be wrong.

The prelate is being tried alongside Margaret Ng, a prominent former legislator; scholar Hui Po-keung; Cyd Ho, a former legislator; Sze Ching-wee, secretary of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund secretary; and Denise Ho, a popular singer and gay-rights activist.

The 612 fund was set up to help pay legal costs for those arrested in the 2019-20 pro-democracy demonstrations. Prosecutors claim the fund wasn’t registered properly under Hong Kong's Societies Ordinance -- a law frequently used against triads, or secret societies. 

If convicted, the defendants could be fined about $1300. But in Cardinal Zen's case, the Communists may not be satisfied with a mere fine. The defendants were originally arrested for "collusion with foreign forces", for which they could be jailed for life!

The timing of the trial is bad for the NWR (New World Religion) forces at the Vatican, coming as it does when the Vatican Holy See's 2018 sellout to the Communists is up for renewal. Although he had retired from his position as Archbishop of Hong Kong, he was vocal in his condemnation of the deal by which Beijing's schismatic Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association took control all Catholics in China, including those in the "underground church" which remained loyal to Rome.

Further reading: "Vatican-China agreement 'terrible, terrible, terrible': Cardinal Zen", WWW 4/12/19, and "Cardinal Zen decries/Vatican defends sell-out of Chinese Catholics", WWW 3/3/20. 

Just two years ago, Cardinal Zen flew to Rome in a desperate attempt to get Pope Bergoglio to reconsider his China deal. But a pope who always seems to have time for private audiences with celebrities -- including heretics, apostates and non-believers -- refused to meet a cardinal with long firsthand experience of the persecution of Christians by the Chinese Communists.

The architect of the still-secret deal with Beijing, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro "Peter the Roman" Parolin, professed his "closeness" to his fellow prelate, but then revealed his true priorities, saying, "The most concrete hope is that initiatives such as this one will not complicate the already complex and not simple path of dialogue."

Cardinal Gerhard Müller noted that no senior Vatican official had offered an expression of solidarity or a prayer initiative for Cardinal Zen at last month's gathering of cardinals in Rome. On a return flight from Kazakhstan last Thursday, Francis suggested this is no accident. When a reporter asked about Cardinal Zen, the pope offered not a word of support, noting only that the cardinal "says what he feels" despite knowing there are "limitations".

The Pachamamma pope wouldn't even go so far as to call China "undemocratic". One wonders what it would take for the Vatican to admit that the deal with the Commies was a mistake? (Don't ever expect to hear words like "sellout" or "betrayal".)  If a show trial for a prince of the Church isn't enough, what would be? After his arrest, Cardinal Zen said, "Martyrdom is normal in our church. We may not have to do that, but we may have to bear some pain and steel ourselves for our loyalty to our faith."

Since His Church is doing nothing, let us pray that God will protect His faithful priest, and deliver all Chinese Christians from Communist oppression and persecution. 

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.