Chris Lamb\/CNN<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The project has been led by two Catholic journalists, Edward Pentin, who is from Britain, and Diane Montagna, from the United States \u2013 both of whose work appears on traditionalist and conservative Catholic news sites. Montagna has been handing the book to cardinals entering and leaving the pre-conclave meetings, Reuters reported. <\/p>\n
The creators of the report say they produced the resource to help cardinals get to \u201cknow one another better\u201d and that it was compiled by an \u201cinternational and independent team of Catholic journalists and researchers.\u201d It comes ahead of a conclave where the cardinals \u2013 a diverse group drawn from 71 countries, many of them appointed by Francis over the last decade \u2013 don\u2019t know each other well and have been wearing name badges during their meetings. <\/p>\n
The report was compiled in association with Sophia Institute Press, a traditionalist-leaning publishing house based in New Hampshire, and Cardinalis, a magazine based in Versailles, France. Sophia Institute Press publishes the radically anti-Francis \u201cCrisis Magazine\u201d and in 2019 published the book \u201cInfiltration,\u201d which claims that in the 19th century, a group of \u201cModernists and Marxists\u201d hatched a plan to \u201csubvert the Catholic Church from within.\u201d Meanwhile, Cardinalis regularly features articles on prominent conservative cardinals. <\/p>\n
The College of Cardinals Report website attempts to ward off accusations of bias, saying, \u201cOur approach is fact-based and we strive to be impartial, offering as accurate a picture as possible of the sort of man who might one day fill the shoes of the Fisherman\u201d\u2013 a reference to the first pope, St. Peter. <\/p>\n
Its authors also say there is historical precedent for their initiative, pointing to times when \u201cdiplomats and other trusted scribes would compile more in-depth and reliable biographies of the cardinals and distribute them to interested parties.\u201d <\/p>\n
In his rules on the election of popes, John Paul II prohibited, on pain of excommunication, \u201call possible forms of interference, opposition\u201d from political authorities, including \u201cany individual or group\u201d who \u201cmight attempt to exercise influence on the election of the Pope.\u201d The idea behind the secrecy of the conclave is to prevent outside influence. In the past, European monarchs held a power of veto in a papal election, with the last one exercised in 1903. <\/p>\n
But the 2025 conclave has been subject to various kinds of attempts to influence it. Clerical sexual abuse survivors have set up a database to vet cardinals\u2019 records on handling the issue, while social media has been full of controversial content \u2013 from AI-generated videos of cardinals partying in the Sistine Chapel to US President Donald Trump releasing an artificially created image of himself as the pope. <\/p>\n
Well-funded conservative Catholic groups are among the would-be influencers. Sophia Institute Press publishes books in partnership with The Eternal Word Network (EWTN), the largest religious broadcaster in the world and one which has often given a platform to Francis\u2019 critics. <\/p>\n
The Napa Institute, a conservative Catholic group, has been present in Rome in the run-up to the conclave, as has the Papal Foundation, a group of Catholic philanthropists. \u201cThis room could raise a billion to help the church. So long as we have the right pope,\u201d an anonymous Papal Foundation backer told the Times of London. <\/p>\n
Some members of these groups are also supporters of Trump. Tim Busch, a Californian lawyer and the co-founder of Napa, has described the Trump administration as the \u201cmost Christian he\u2019s ever seen.\u201d While Busch has rejected the claim he is \u201canti-Francis,\u201d he said that the ultra-conservative Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigan\u00f2 had \u201cdone us a great service\u201d when he released a 2018 dossier calling on the late pope to resign. Vigan\u00f2 was last year excommunicated for schism. <\/p>\n
Kurt Martens, a professor of canon law from the Catholic University of America, said church legislation seeks to \u201cprotect the cardinals against all kinds of outside influencing and interference.\u201d He pointed to the \u201cRed Hat Report,\u201d a US group that back in 2018 was seeking more than $1 million to compile dossiers on candidates in an attempt to prevent a repeat of the conclave that elected Francis. <\/p>\n
Martens said initiatives such as the cardinals\u2019 report and the Red Hat Report \u201cintend to not just give objective information, but colored information, and thereby seeks to influence the outcome of the conclave.\u201d He added: \u201cPer the rules of St. John Paul II, that is absolutely forbidden.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n
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