tomder55
May 8, 2025, 03:32 AM
Yesterday the Vatican released global warming atmospheric polluting black smoke into the air .
Black smoke signals end of first day of conclave - Vatican News (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2025-05/black-smoke-end-first-day-conclave-no-pope.html)
This means that the 133 Cardinals that are sequestered in the Sistine Chapel could not agree who will be the next Pope. A 2/3 majority is needed for a Cardinal to become a Pope.
This seems like a very inefficient way to handle a vote. More modern and progressive minded reformers think they should adopt rank choice voting .
Recent Conclaves have lasted 2-3 days as the Cardinals horse trade
Francis 2 days
Benedict XVI 2 days
John Paul II 3 days
John Paul 2 days
One piece of disturbing news that came out prior to the conclave was that Francis made a deal with the dictators in China for them to have veto power over who became a Cardinal in China. Given the regimes religious persecutions of Tibet ;the Uyghurs and Turkic Muslims this decision was disgraceful .
China and the Vatican agree to extend an agreement on appointing bishops | AP News (https://apnews.com/article/china-vatican-agreement-b9cd669a0a91ad3da8fc70fe41611bdb)
The question is; will this policy remain ? It is reported that if one of the front runners ;Cardinal Pietro Parolin; who managed the Vatican finances for Francis , and brokered the deal ,will continue this outrageous policy.
This policy is as infamous as the 1933 Reichskonkordat treaty between Hitler and Pope Pius XI. In exchange for being left alone by Hitler ,he agreed to not speak out against Nazi persecutions .
CATHOLIC LIBRARY: Concordat with the German Reich (1933) (https://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_ss33co.htm)
So while the world awaits a new Pope ,the Chicoms have preempted the process by voting last week to elect new bishops from a list of Beijing-approved candidates for the dioceses of Shanghai and Xinxiang . This even as the Catholic rules say that no new Bishops can be appointed between Papacies .
2 priests ‘elected’ as Catholic bishops in China after death of Pope Francis (https://www.ewtnvatican.com/articles/2-priests-elected-as-catholic-bishops-in-china-after-death-of-pope-francis-5213)
Xinxiang diocese already has a bishop, Joseph Zhang Weizhu who has refused to submit to Bejing . So the Chicoms had him arrested and thrown into jail as he was being treated for cancer. He continues to be held without trial.
Persecution of 10 Catholic bishops in China intensified after Vatican-China deal, report says – Catholic World Report (https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2024/10/21/persecution-of-10-catholic-bishops-in-china-intensified-after-vatican-china-deal-report-says/)
Their replacement select is Father Li Jianlin who has a history of sucking up the the Chicoms.
Pope Francis overlooked even instances when China violated the accord between the Vatican and China . No doubt that if Parolin is elevated to the Pope ,the church's appeasement will continue .
Black smoke signals end of first day of conclave - Vatican News (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2025-05/black-smoke-end-first-day-conclave-no-pope.html)
This means that the 133 Cardinals that are sequestered in the Sistine Chapel could not agree who will be the next Pope. A 2/3 majority is needed for a Cardinal to become a Pope.
This seems like a very inefficient way to handle a vote. More modern and progressive minded reformers think they should adopt rank choice voting .
Recent Conclaves have lasted 2-3 days as the Cardinals horse trade
Francis 2 days
Benedict XVI 2 days
John Paul II 3 days
John Paul 2 days
One piece of disturbing news that came out prior to the conclave was that Francis made a deal with the dictators in China for them to have veto power over who became a Cardinal in China. Given the regimes religious persecutions of Tibet ;the Uyghurs and Turkic Muslims this decision was disgraceful .
China and the Vatican agree to extend an agreement on appointing bishops | AP News (https://apnews.com/article/china-vatican-agreement-b9cd669a0a91ad3da8fc70fe41611bdb)
The question is; will this policy remain ? It is reported that if one of the front runners ;Cardinal Pietro Parolin; who managed the Vatican finances for Francis , and brokered the deal ,will continue this outrageous policy.
This policy is as infamous as the 1933 Reichskonkordat treaty between Hitler and Pope Pius XI. In exchange for being left alone by Hitler ,he agreed to not speak out against Nazi persecutions .
CATHOLIC LIBRARY: Concordat with the German Reich (1933) (https://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_ss33co.htm)
So while the world awaits a new Pope ,the Chicoms have preempted the process by voting last week to elect new bishops from a list of Beijing-approved candidates for the dioceses of Shanghai and Xinxiang . This even as the Catholic rules say that no new Bishops can be appointed between Papacies .
2 priests ‘elected’ as Catholic bishops in China after death of Pope Francis (https://www.ewtnvatican.com/articles/2-priests-elected-as-catholic-bishops-in-china-after-death-of-pope-francis-5213)
Xinxiang diocese already has a bishop, Joseph Zhang Weizhu who has refused to submit to Bejing . So the Chicoms had him arrested and thrown into jail as he was being treated for cancer. He continues to be held without trial.
Persecution of 10 Catholic bishops in China intensified after Vatican-China deal, report says – Catholic World Report (https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2024/10/21/persecution-of-10-catholic-bishops-in-china-intensified-after-vatican-china-deal-report-says/)
Their replacement select is Father Li Jianlin who has a history of sucking up the the Chicoms.
Pope Francis overlooked even instances when China violated the accord between the Vatican and China . No doubt that if Parolin is elevated to the Pope ,the church's appeasement will continue .