Editor’s note: This article was originally published on November 15, 2024.
(Roma Locuta Est) — Late into the night of November 5th, and into the early hours of November 6th, Americans received great news with the election of Donald J. Trump to his second term. There is now the opportunity to truly uproot the “Deep State” which is embedded in departments and agencies across the federal government, especially the Department of Justice, the FBI, CIA, Department of Defense, etc.
President-elect Trump has already named many of those who he will nominate to head these departments and agencies. You know they are good by the loud sound of squealing one hears from the federal employees within these agencies!
During his recent presidential campaign, Trump honestly admitted that he made mistakes in his first term as to who he named to head such agencies. Unfamiliar with Washington D.C., he had put his trust in others to suggest appointments to him. Unfortunately, various deep-staters and/or never-Trumpers ended up in key positions, which thwarted the efforts of then-President Trump and actually worked to undermine him.
Today, walking my dogs, I recalled an open letter that appeared in the Remnant Newspaper back in 2017, just a couple of days after Trump’s first inauguration. Back then, having observed the apparent close ties between the Democratic Party and the Vatican under Pope Francis in the years following the conclave, the Remnant Newspaper published an open letter, which was signed by a number of Catholic notables, inclusive of Michael J. Matt, Christopher A. Ferrara and Elizabeth Yore. The letter addressed to the Trump administration [see A Vatican-Democratic Party Alliance: (Catholics Ask Trump Administration to Investigate)] asked a number of interesting questions, one of which was, “What other covert operations were carried out by US government operatives concerning the resignation of Pope Benedict or the conclave that elected Pope Francis?”
That letter was prompted by the fact that at least a “few” Democrats in the U.S. who, upset with Catholic opposition to the inclusion of contraceptive coverage in Obama’s then-proposed healthcare legislation, discussed the “need for a Catholic Spring” in the Catholic Church, even wondering aloud about “how one would ‘plant the seeds of revolution…’” in the Church. Such expressions are found in an email thread obtained by WikiLeaks from John Podesta’s email files. This email thread revealed part of a discussion between long-time Clinton and Obama political advisor John Podesta and Sandy Newman of Voices of Progress. This email exchange (entitled “opening for a Catholic Spring? just musing . . .“) is dated February 10 and 11, 2012, just a year before the announcement of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation. In it Newman, speaking of the Catholic Church’s opposition to Obama’s contraceptive measures in his healthcare reform, raised the “Catholic question” with Podesta, writing in part (emphasis added):
This whole controversy with the bishops opposing contraceptive coverage even though 98% of Catholic women (and their conjugal partners) have used contraception has me thinking . . . There needs to be a Catholic Spring, in which Catholics themselves demand the end of a middle ages dictatorship and the beginning of a little democracy and respect for gender equality in the Catholic church. Is contraceptive coverage an issue around which that could happen. The Bishops will undoubtedly continue the fight. Does the Catholic Hospital Association support of the Administration’s new policy, together with ‘the 98%’ create an opportunity?
Of course, this idea may just reveal my total lack of understanding of the Catholic church, the economic power it can bring to bear against nuns and priests who count on it for their maintenance, etc. Even if the idea isn’t crazy, I don’t qualify to be involved and I have not thought at all about how one would ‘plant the seeds of the revolution,’ or who would plant them. Just wondering . . .
John Podesta sent a reply the very next day, dated February 11, 2012 – which, by odd coincidence, preceded Pope Benedict XVI’s announcement of his resignation a year to the day. In that reply, Podesta wrote (emphasis added):
We created Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good to organize for a moment like this. But I think it lacks the leadership to do so now. Likewise Catholics United. Like most Spring movements, I think this one will have to be bottom up. I’ll discuss with Tara. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is the other person to consult.
Podesta indicated in his response that he would “discuss” the question “with Tara” and observed that Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was the other person with whom the question should be discussed. To my knowledge there are no additional Podesta emails available via WikiLeaks that shed any light on what, if any, follow-up was conducted by Podesta with regard to Sandy Newman’s suggestion regarding a “Catholic Spring” or how to “plant the seeds of revolution.”
At the time of the WikiLeaks revelations in the fall of 2016, there was Catholic outrage at the implications of this email exchange (e.g., see here, here, here), as well as concerns expressed about Soros-funded groups such as Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United.
So one question here is, did the Obama administration – with such things in mind – in the years and days leading up to the 2013 conclave involve themselves in “planting the seeds of revolution” in the Catholic Church? Was anything done to actually implement this? There have been suggestions that the NSA monitored the 2013 conclave as alleged by the blog The Eye-Witness in an October 2013 article (“A Compromised Conclave“). Henry Sire in his book The Dictator Pope reported – without further details – that “[i]t is known the CIA was monitoring the Conclave of 2013” (p. 189). It’s hard to evaluate these stories without more detail, but they do deserve follow up. [NB: Roma Locuta Est has commented before on – in its opinion – a noncredible story (see What about the Benedict and “NSA official” story?)]. We certainly know the Biden-Obama administration is capable of such things, e.g., the monitoring of U.S. Catholics.
READ: Trump restores sanity in US while Pope Francis denies Catholic teaching on immigration
Also via the reporting of Henry Sire in his book The Dictator Pope, we know by the time Hillary Clinton was running in 2015 for the presidency, there were ties between the Vatican and the Democratic Party. Sire reported that reliable sources stated Pope Francis gave funds to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign from Peter’s Pence:
If indeed, money from Peter’s Pence was diverted to fund Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, at Pope Francis’s request, as has been repeatedly rumored from reliable sources, it could be the unraveling of an enormous scandal. (The Dictator Pope, p. 193)
So, again, strong “hints” of Obama-Clinton ties to Pope Francis. As an aside, Roma Locuta Est has previously reported on then-Cardinal McCarrick’s ties to the Obama-Biden administration, and his many visits to the White House (see Why did McCarrick visit the Obama/Biden White House in July 2013?; More on McCarrick and his Connections to the Obama/Biden White House), e.g., visiting there immediately after his trip to China at the behest of Pope Francis, which Archbishop Viganò reported on in this Testimony. It’s also curious to note that there might be other potential ties as well, e.g., possibly between Podesta and the “influential Italian gentleman” (see Six Degrees of the “Influential Italian Gentleman”?).
The questions raised by the above considerations are interesting, if for no other reason than that the Francis papacy has been a Democratic Party dream come true. Pope Francis during his pontificate has de-emphasized cultural war issues (e.g., abortion, homosexual “marriage”) and emphasized “social justice” issues (e.g., immigration, the environment). The Democratic Party in the U.S. and the globalists in general have benefited from all of this. The “icing on the cake” for the U.S. Democratic Party has been a series of U.S. episcopal appointments (e.g., Cupich, Tobin, McElroy) who willingly follow the Francis political and social agenda.
President Trump, Catholics deserve to know – do something!
Thus, let us return now to the open letter mentioned earlier, and the questions it raised back in 2017. I don’t know whether the U.S. government had any part in the 2013 conclave, or any events leading up to it. But I do know Catholics have a right to know – one way or the other – given the questions surrounding stated Democrat interest in “planting of a seed of revolution in the Catholic Church,” the seeming close ties between the Vatican and the Democrat Party as raised by Henry Sire, and claims of NSA/CIA monitoring of the 2013 conclave, etc. Not only that, we may throw into the mix as well the FBI’s monitoring of American Catholics as if they were terrorists.
Given how the Deep State went after Trump in his first term (e.g., the Russia Hoax, two impeachments, etc.), with the benefit of hindsight, it’s now clear these were questions to which answers would never have been provided to Trump – even if Trump had requested them from the relevant agencies at the time.
However, this moment in history in which we are now living appears to be a different story. Trump is riding a populist wave that brings him back to the presidency, with the Republicans controlling both Houses of Congress, as well as having a conservative Supreme Court. The Deep State is on its back heels. Trump is naming “flame throwers” to head key agencies who will proverbially light up these agencies, as they uproot the Deep State, and reveal its misdeeds.
Therefore, now is the time to ask Trump again to search for the answers to these questions of concern to American Catholic voters. The proposed new heads of these agencies will be able to get the answers – if they are there to be had. Given that the U.S. government has in fact spied on Catholics via the FBI within the last four years, and given Catholics voted for Trump in large percentages, Catholics deserve to know whether and/or how the U.S. government may have influenced the conclave of 2013.
Trump should appoint some sort of “inspector general” with cross-agency access and authority to get to the bottom of whatever answers there may be, both in regard to what was done here in the United States against American Catholics and whatever has been done abroad (e.g., was there an attempt to influence the 2013 conclave?).
American Catholics want to know if their government has meddled with the Catholic Church – either at home or abroad – during the Obama and Biden administrations. President Donald Trump in his second term can get those answers!
Final thoughts
Roma Locuta Est has reported on many of the oddities surrounding the 2013 conclave, particularly with regard to the famous “influential Italian gentleman” – and the suspiciously timed “October Surprise” launched by Italian government officials that seemingly torpedoed the papal chances of Cardinal Scola, the recognized leading contender for the papacy at the time (see The Forgotten “October Surprise” of the 2013 Conclave; The Forgotten “October Surprise”; (Part II): Cui Bono?). See Roma Locuta Est’s compendium of articles titled The Conclave Chronicles, wherein we examined both the resignation of Benedict XVI, and the 2013 conclave. Some of the key oddities I note are here (see Five Questions about the 2013 Conclave for the Historical Record).
For the record, I do absolutely believe the resignation of Benedict XVI was valid, as argued on this blog and in my book Valid? The Resignation of Benedict XVI. With regard to the conclave, if there is a “smoking gun” of U.S. government involvement – or of any other country’s government – in the 2013 conclave, it’s above my pay grade as to how that would be handled within the Church, though it seems to me certain that the doctrine of “universal acceptance” would, unfortunately, come into play. But even so, the answers are still vitally important, even if only for the historical record, and to take precautions for future conclaves, e.g., making any necessary rule changes.
President Trump… please, appoint an inspector general to look into these matters!
Reprinted with permission from Roma Locuta Est.