If after the next conclave the cardinal should appear dressed in white from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica Peter Parolinno one would be surprised. Although Francis’ health is not a cause for particular concern as it was last year, in the Vatican it is impossible to stop the guessing game for who, one day, will come after him. And the Secretary of State is the big favorite, strong in the moderate profile that he has tried in every way to give himself in these eleven years at the Apostolic Palace.
The revenge of diplomacy
Parolin’s arrival at the head of the Secretariat of State in 2013 had been welcomed positively by the leaders of the Holy See, eager for a “revenge” after the pontificate of Benedict XVI who, breaking a consolidated tradition, had appointed the Salesian Tarcisio Bertone to that role. The prelate of Schiavon, moreover, had been one of the “victims” – together with Monsignor Gabriele Caccia – of that changing of the guard at the Apostolic Palace, removed from the Curia in 2009 with the most classic of promote and love: consecrated bishop and sent to Venezuela as apostolic nuncio. The Ratzingerian pontificate, due to Bertone’s hostility, had not been a fortunate period for Parolin, until then child prodigy from the Vatican diplomacy and young Vatican undersecretary for relations with States. In this role, the current Secretary of State was entrusted with delicate roles such as interlocution on war in iraq with the Russian Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Aleksej Meskov, the leadership of the Holy See delegation in the resumption of the bilateral commission with Israel, a mission to China. Tasks and relationships that have been very useful in these last eleven years. In the press conference of the painful handover between Sodano and Bertone in 2006, it was Parolin himself who gave voice, in curial language, to the impatience of Vatican diplomacy for the failure to nominate a diplomat to lead the Third Lodge. “Although it is new that both the Holy Father and the new Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone, are not of direct diplomatic originthis should not lead to any changes”, observed the young prelate who had made himself known in the Curia during the Angelo Sodano era. His return to Rome, precisely in place of Bertone, was a sign of Francis’ attention to the diplomatic school of the Holy See. Although he is not very diplomatic by nature, the Argentine Pope has shown that he takes this important component of the Church into consideration and has rewarded several nuncios with the cardinalate. Choices that could prove useful to Parolin in an upcoming conclave.
Moderate but not too much
There are not many who can boast of having “survived” in top positions during all eleven years of Bergoglian pontificate. Parolin, however, is the exception that proves the rule. Although not considered part of the magic circle of Santa Marta, the Venetian prelate remained firm in his position. From trait d’union of two different pontificates such as the current one and that of John Paul II, the Secretary of State has often become the recipient of outbursts of the old curial world increasingly misunderstood in the years of Francis. In this, the Venetian cardinal was good at dispensing understanding to disappointed interlocutors on the one hand, and at not letting slip even a single equivocal word against a notoriously hot-headed Pope on the other. The relationship with Francis was characterized by ups and downs: before the pandemic, for example, there were rumors in the Vatican that Bergoglio had privately complained that his Secretary of State would have preferred to be sent to lead a very important archdiocese close to home to add the pastoral experience that is missing from his CV as a papabile. However, in the years that followed, the Pope did not fail to publicly express his appreciation for the work of his number two. Moreover, a Pontiff so attentive to the discussions on his succession to the point of joking and predicting the election of a John XXIVcertainly does not ignore that Parolin’s name is certainly one of the most recurring. Despite his moderate and more reassuring profile compared to the many ruptures of this pontificate, the candidacy of the Italian cardinal is not at all welcomed by everyone. It is not only his central role in the agreement with Beijing for the nomination of bishops that has earned him the harsh attack of the 92-year-old cardinal that weighs Joseph Zen Ze-kiuna living symbol of the fight for freedom. In fact, Parolin has long been indicated as an opponent of the so-called Latin Mass.
The Latin Mass and the Conclave
In this last period, the communities of faithful devoted to the extraordinary form of the Roman rite that Benedict XVI liberalized in 2007 are “on the go” because rumors have multiplied about the imminent release of a new document that would completely ban celebrations of the ancient mass. The dicastery for divine worship and the discipline of the sacraments has banned the celebration of the so-called Tridentine rite at the Covadonga Pilgrimage and in the cathedral of Melbourne. The signs of a further crackdown after Traditionis custodes and the other documents that followed are there and have led to a mobilization led by the Anglo-Saxon world and which has also involved non-Catholics. This was seen in the letter published on “The Times” to ask the Pope not to cancel the Latin mass and signed by personalities such as former minister Michael Gove, former model and ex-wife of the Rolling Stones leader Bianca Jagger, pianist Mitsuko Uchida, entrepreneur Rocco Forte, various lords and princesses and others. A few hours ago, again from England, another initiative promoted by the Composer James MacMillan who launched a petition to ask the Pope not to ban the Latin Mass. In a short time the petition, which can be found on Change.org and can be subscribed all over the world, has exceeded the 5000 signatures. The heated dossier on the ancient Mass risks burning Parolin’s candidacy: the Secretary of State, in fact, is indicated by several reconstructions circulating as the main supporter in the Curia of this new crackdown. The English editorialist of the “The Spectator”, Damian Thompson he asked in a tweet whether the cardinal electors are reflecting on the “wounds that will deepen by electing another anti-TLM ideologue (traditional mass, ed.)“. In the college of cardinals there is no majority of supporters of the celebration in ancient order, indeed. However, even several cardinals who have never celebrated in the ancient rite consider the war that Rome is waging against priests and faithful of traditional sensibility to be senseless. For the first time, however, the responsibility is not attributed to Francis and his “allergy” towards those he calls “backwards”: in addition to the unloved Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of Divine Worship, the Secretary of State himself is the one who has ended up in the crosshairs. If the absolute ban on celebrating according to Pope Roncalli’s 1962 missal were to really pass, it is not excluded that the waste of a probable further polarization in the Church could end up in the next conclave and complicate the path of the favorite to become John XXIV.
A widespread opinion is that common sense and diplomacy will be needed, characteristics that Parolin does not lack, to defuse an incident that many believe could have been avoided, doing everything possible to ensure that the divisive document remains in the drawer.