Human Events Daily host Jack Posobiec issued a rallying cry to conservative Catholics ahead of the papal conclave, warning that the outcome could have major consequences for the Church—and the world—for decades to come.
“For conservative Catholics, we’re really pushing for a conservative Pope,” Posobiec said. “We want someone who is not going to continue in this progressive vein like we saw over the past decade-plus under Francis. We want that return to tradition.”
The conclave to choose the next pope officially begins Wednesday, and Posobiec noted that the Vatican’s internal power struggle is already underway. “The progressives have their candidate up in Parolin,” he said, referring to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of the Vatican and a longtime ally of Pope Francis. “They want him to be a direct successor.”
But rumors are already swirling around Parolin’s health. “A pretty serious rumour about Parolin regarding a health issue, a blood pressure issue—that he had at one point,” Posobiec said. “They were saying that he appeared ‘stiff’ at one of the early pre-conclave meetings.”
Posobiec stressed that the importance of this conclave extends far beyond the walls of the Sistine Chapel—and beyond the Catholic faith itself.
“For folks out there who say, ‘What does it matter to me? I’m not Catholic, it’s just this other denomination that I’m not involved with,’ well this is a world leader,” Posobiec said. “This is someone that is going to have a huge impact over billions of people—1.5 billion people in the world. They matter, and it will have an effect on you whether you’re Catholic or not.”
As a Polish Catholic, Posobiec described the gravity of the moment from a personal perspective: “As conservatives, we want someone in there who is, of course, going to stand for the traditional values of the Roman Catholic Church. As a member of that church, like I was saying before—I’m Polish—we pretty much only come in one flavor.”
He pointed to the resurgence of traditional Catholic practices in the US, especially among young families. “We don’t want there to be this ongoing pressure and friction between the modernists and the traditionalists, the folks who still believe in the Latin Mass,” he said. “Which, by the way, this side of the Church is surging.”
“You go to a Latin Mass right now anywhere in America—they’re packed. It is standing-room only. The women are wearing veils—and by the way, the women, they’re young. They’re under 30, they’re married, they have kids. It’s real,” Posobiec said. “This like the online tradwife meme—it’s the real deal. And you see they kneel before they take Eucharist, they’re always taking Eucharist on the tongue—never on the hand. Very traditional. Gen Z are driving this. They’re driving a ton of this.”
But that movement could be stifled if the Church leadership handpicked by Francis continues unchecked. “The risk is, if the Vatican leadership that Francis largely chose holds to a continuation of what Francis did, you’re going to get more of this,” he warned.
Turning back to Cardinal Parolin, Posobiec said: “There’s another absolute sin that has to be laid at his feet, and that was the corrupt deal that he made with the Chinese Communist Party. He sold out the Christians in China, sold out the Catholics in China, sold out Cardinal Zen.”
“Parolin—you’re going to have a guy like that potentially as pope? Leading the pontificate? The Vicar of Christ, sitting in the throne of St. Peter? No,” Posobiec concluded.
Watch the full episode below:
This Story originally came from humanevents.com