Spanish
Santo Domingo.- The ambassador Víctor Grimaldi, who was the representative of the Dominican Republic to the Holy See for 11 years, is of the opinion that in the Church there will be no radical changes with the arrival of Pope Leo XVI, with respect to his predecessor Francis, but it is logical that it will not be a continuation to the letter of the recently deceased Argentine Pope.
“I have seen many people from the church say that a new Pope whom he replaces is Saint Peter, who was the first pontiff, but the work of the previous Pope, the one who follows, modifies it in some way; however, I do not believe that there will be radical changes; I believe that the essential of Pope Francis will be continued,” says the journalist and historian.
However, Grimaldi says he has noticed that the new pontiff has changed some details in the formalities, such as Prevost is using all the vestments for the corresponding formalities, which was not usual for Pope Francis, because although the Pope's dress is always white, there are occasions when a special stole must be used.
“In those details there has been a change with respect to the late Pope Francis, but I believe that in essence there will be no other substantial modifications,” he insisted.
Where Grimaldi does understand that there will be changes is in the dicasteries, which are the high positions of the Holy See, but it will be a gradual process; it is natural that removals will occur there because each Pope is accompanied by his team.
“For example, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, who was the one who announced that a new Pope had been elected, in this case Leo XIV; I know him because when I arrived in Rome he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Holy See, which is called Secretary of State for relations with states, and his advisor was Pietro Parolin, who was later appointed in September 2009 as Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela,” he recalled.
He added that in February 2013 Parolin was appointed Secretary of State by Pope Francis, which implies that his former boss Mamberti was in a lower rank, which is why he had to be promoted to president of the highest court of the Vatican. He indicated that those are examples of the movements and changes that occur in the Holy See, which may happen now that there is a new Pope.
Víctor Grimaldi valued the importance of the election of Pope Leo XIV for Latin America, as he knows the region very well, because he was a bishop in Peru, where he was granted citizenship, and in the case of the Dominican Republic he has come on a couple of occasions, and it is known that his maternal family has roots in the country.
Regarding the United States, the country where he was born, the former Dominican ambassador to the Holy See said that they might have some contradictions, but ruled out that strong confrontations could occur with the government of President Donald Trump.
I believe Pietro Parolin was key to the quick selection of Pope Leo XIV
In that order, the diplomat said that one of the reasons why Cardinal Roberto Francis Prevost was elected so quickly in the Conclave that was held to choose the new Pope, is due to the role played by the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin.
The historian and diplomat clarified that the Italian press stated this after it was announced that Cardinal Prevost had been elected as the supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church, following the death of Pope Francis.
Grimaldi explained that, according to those media outlets, an agreement or consensus was reached for the selection of Cardinal Prevost, for which Parolin, one of those who was insistently mentioned to occupy the throne of Peter, played a fundamental role.
Interviewed by Héctor Herrera Cabral on the D´AGENDA program, which is broadcast every Sunday on Telesistema Canal 11 and TV Quisqueya for the United States, the renowned intellectual added that on the first day of the Conclave, when the dark smoke came out, there was a delay of two hours more than the time that was stipulated for the meeting of the members of the College of Cardinals with the right to vote.
He maintained that, according to what was reported by the media of the aforementioned European country, this determined that those who supported the current Secretary of State, but mainly he, took the step to facilitate a quicker decision.
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“What I have read in the Italian press these days is that, in the end, there was an agreement or a consensus to support Cardinal Prevost. What happened was the following: when the first smoke was released, which was dark smoke on the first day of the Conclave, which took two more hours to occur; upon seeing that, those who supported Cardinal Parolin, and the same Vatican Secretary of State, decided to support the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops,” specified journalist Grimaldi.
He indicated that the position taken by Pietro Parolin and the cardinals who supported him to be Pope was with the intention of not subjecting the Conclave to a process of attrition.
“And the consensus was reached, but in addition, the current Pope Roberto Francis Prevost Martínez had been at the head of the Congregation, Dicastery, of Bishops for two years, and he showed great conciliatory skill during that time and, above all, in the synodal meeting that Pope Francis promoted,” he highlighted.
He said that the new Pope was key in that Synod to get some German bishops to be more flexible regarding issues such as the ordination of women and other aspects considered progressive.
“It was possible to harmonize and, finally, what has been approved and maintained is the doctrine of the Church, as the Pope himself has said that the doctrine is maintained; what changes are the circumstances, the times, the world, which has changed a lot in the last 15 or 20 years, but the important thing is to know how to place the doctrine of the Church,” he insisted.
