About the Conclave: Unusual Specific Names You Read About Will Have Been Selected to Deceive You and Manipulate the Process

The first meeting of the General Congregation of the College of Cardinals was held this morning at 09:00. What are they planning before most Cardinals can arrive in Rome?

From Rorate Cæli

News pages and newspapers are filled today with reports on who are those most likely to succeed Francis as the next Roman Pontiff. While Romans have for centuries cautioned outsiders that, "he who enters [the conclave] as pope, leaves as a Cardinal," this is not exactly what we have in mind.

What we do have in mind is what happened in the 2013 conclave, a conclave that should have never taken place and was caused by the absurd and indefensible decision of Benedict XVI to resign the papacy instead of remaining in office until his natural death.

It is quite possible that Benedict had in mind a specific successor: Cardinal Scola. If so, he did not make any effort to have him elected. But the greatest manipulation, both in the news and in rumors, regarded the election of Cardinal Bergoglio. Despite being already over the age of retirement, he had been the progressive candidate in the 2005 conclave, and therefore was a plausible candidate. 

But how to hide his candidacy in plain sight? This was done by persistent rumors put forward by his core group of voters about a non-starter: Cardinal Scherer, Archbishop of São Paulo, Brazil. So, while everyone (and we include this blog) was worried about an oddball like Scherer being elected pope, he was never really in the running: his name was just a ploy to have Bergoglio of Buenos Aires presented as a "moderate" choice, though he was nothing of the sort. A post-conciliar Jesuit! A lousy archbishop! A horrible superior! And still presented as a moderate...

Well, the ploy worked, and Bergoglio was elected.

So if you hear about some very specific names, both "conservative" and "progressive", being hyped by the media and rumors in the next few days, know that you are being played. We were burned once, and this will not happen again: don't allow yourself to be deceived as well. 

They will try to make a second Francis. All we ordinary Catholics have left are our prayers and penance.