Who is Pietro Parolin? The soft-spoken diplomat who might quickly be Pope | EUROtoday

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State for the final 12 years and its high diplomat, has emerged on almost each shortlist as an apparent papal contender.

Parolin – a 70-year-old from a small city in Italy’s deeply Catholic northern Veneto area – is claimed to be a gentle administrator who might deliver some calm after three consecutive papacies that have been at occasions tempestuous.

As the Vatican’s quantity two, he’s maybe the candidate finest identified to the 133 cardinal electors who will enter the Sistine Chapel for the beginning of the key conclave on Wednesday.

His function has introduced him into contact with cardinals worldwide, each in Rome and through visits to their dwelling international locations – a familiarity that might show essential within the secretive world of the conclave.

Two cardinals from two African international locations, for instance, in all probability know Parolin simply as nicely and even higher than they know one another.

Under Pope Francis, who died on April 21, the variety of events all of the world’s cardinals might meet altogether in Rome was restricted.

open picture in gallery

“We have to get to know each other” has been a standard chorus to reporters from in any other case tight-lipped cardinals getting into and leaving pre-conclave conferences generally known as “General Congregations”.

Parolin is seen as a quiet diplomat who’s pragmatic fairly than conservative or progressive. He often needed to quietly put out fires attributable to the late pope’s remarks.

Francis, an Argentine who was the primary pope from the Americas, gave media interviews and generally spoke off the cuff in public.

“He (Parolin) knows how to take a punch for the number one and for the institution,” mentioned one cleric at the moment primarily based overseas who has labored with him and has identified him for a few years, who requested to not be recognized due to the secretive nature of the conclave.

One such latest event was when the late Pope recommended final yr that Israel’s navy marketing campaign in Gaza may quantity to genocide. Parolin agreed to satisfy with the then-Israeli ambassador to the Vatican, Raphael Schutz, who instructed him that Israel needed the pope to say extra about Israel’s proper to defend itself.

When Francis mentioned Ukraine ought to have the “courage of the white flag” to finish the battle there, the remark drew widespread criticism from allies of Kyiv however was hailed by Russia. Parolin quietly instructed diplomats that the pope meant negotiations, not give up.

Career centered on diplomacy

Parolin entered the minor seminary when he was 14 and was ordained in 1980. He has spent almost all of his profession in Vatican diplomacy, in Rome and all over the world. He has by no means headed a Catholic diocese, which might have given him extra pastoral expertise.

But those that know him say this isn’t a deficit as a result of, in operating an organisation as advanced because the Vatican’s central administration and representing the pope all over the world, he has had many contacts with many members of the devoted.

“He travelled to many places and dealt with all categories of people in diverse regional, cultural and linguistic environments. He knows the universal Church,” the abroad cleric mentioned.

Some conservative-leaning cardinals within the U.S. and Asia have expressed disagreement with Parolin as a result of he’s the principle architect of a secret 2018 Vatican settlement with China.

They name the deal, which provides Chinese authorities some say in who will function Catholic bishops, a sell-out to the Communist Party. Supporters say it’s higher than no dialogue in any respect between the Church and China and that even Pope Benedict, generally known as extra conservative than Francis, favoured it.

Another criticism is that underneath Parolin’s watch, the Secretariat of State misplaced some U$140 million in a botched funding in a London property.

The deal led to a Vatican corruption trial during which Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who was considered one of Parolin’s high deputies, was convicted of embezzlement and fraud.

Parolin testified on the trial however was not amongst these accused. Becciu denies wrongdoing and is interesting the decision.

Parolin’s persona is unquestionably not as charismatic as that of Francis, however some cardinals may even see that as a plus.

“Parolin is like Clark Kent without the superman part – mild-mannered, industrious, respected, but not flashy,” mentioned one individual, a layman, who is aware of him nicely, referring to the well-known comedian e book character with two personalities.