VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The leader of the Italian bishops’ conference, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, is in the papabile limelight as conclave speculation increases, but who exactly is he?
The cardinal’s record on morality, liturgy, and doctrine contains a number of red flags for those seeking to remain closely aligned with Catholic teaching, but he has also ensured to play to both sides of the divide in order to garner support.
Though pre-conclave chatter has focussed on Cardinal Pietro Parolin as the leading papal candidate, there is increasing uncertainty over his chances, particularly given the fact that the Italian bloc is divided between Parolin, Zuppi, and the 60-year-old Pierbattista Pizzaballa. Zuppi could well be promoted by the Europeans who wish for a cardinal familiar with the Vatican but not so formally connected with Francis’ legacy.
However, Zuppi would be a concerning candidate for many Catholics who are devoted to the Church’s teachings and morals.
Zuppi, born in Rome in October of 1955, was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in October 2019. With this move he was thrust into the spotlight of those outside Italy, but prior to that he had already garnered considerable following and influence.
Even more fame came when he was elected by his bishops and then chosen by the pope as head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference in 2022.
Ordained for the Diocese of Palestrina in 1981, he was immediately assigned to the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in the Diocese of Rome, serving under then-Father Vincenzo Paglia, now an archbishop.
Why the reason for such a move? The answer lies in his close ties with the Sant’Egidio group, an organization with strong influence in the Vatican though whose true power is little appreciated in the Anglosphere.
Zuppi and Sant’Egidio
Zuppi met Sant’Egidio founder Andrea Riccardi when still a student, and began an incredibly close relationship with the group which remains firm to this day. Based in Trastevere – very close to the Basilica of Santa Maria – Sant’Egidio bills itself as a humanitarian aid and activist group.
Its power in Pope Francis’ Vatican is notable. Alongside Zuppi, the group boasts of key connections including Archbishop Paglia – the former prefect of the Pontifical Academy for Life – and Holy See spokesman Matteo Bruni.
Little known is the key role that the Sant’Egidio group had in facilitating the controversial Sino-Vatican deal which was signed in 2018. Their role in laying the groundwork for the agreement began in 2005, as they undertook meetings to bring China and the Holy See closer together.
Additionally, the group is a key player in ecumenical ventures such as those which have taken center stage at the Vatican in recent years, all enacted in the style of the “scandalous” inter-religious 1986 Assisi meeting at which Pope John Paul II prayed together with Orthodox Christians, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and representatives of many other religions.
So powerful has the community become that it is given the description the “U.N. of Trastevere.”
If the hippie movement of recent decades could be codified into a charismatic, ecumenical, and geopolitical group keen to flex its power on the international stage, then such would be the liturgical and theological spirit of Sant’Egidio – and concomitantly also the spirit of Zuppi himself.
From 2000 to 2012, he served as general ecclesiastical assistant of the Sant’Egidio Community.
Zuppi left the basilica of Santa Maria in 2010, but remained as a priest in Rome, able to maintain his links with the group. In January 2012, Pope Benedict XVI made him one of the auxiliary bishops of Rome and in 2015 Francis made him Archbishop of Bologna.
Throughout his episcopal – and now cardinalatial – career, Zuppi has ardently embodied the ecumenical and liberal view practiced by Sant’Egidio, becoming one of the group’s leading ecclesial champions.
As recorded by veteran Vaticanist Sandro Magister, the late Cardinal George Pell used to remark, “Be careful, because if Zuppi is elected in the conclave, the real pope will be Andrea Riccardi.”
Magister himself added: “That the one to govern the Church, if he [Zuppi] is elected, will not be he, but Andrea Riccardi, the almighty founder and head of the community, where no leaf has ever fallen without his say-so.”
Indeed, the ever power-hungry Riccardi and his Sant’Egidio group is described as having sought to “steer” the last three conclaves, though without direct success so far.
However, the group may yet be foiled, since Magister opined more recently that Zuppi’s links to Sant’Egidio are so public as to give some of his brother cardinals pause for thought, wary at ceding power of the throne to a puppet master.
Zuppi has been described as a continuity candidate: but in true embodiment of the Sant’Egidio spirit he can be the candidate he needs to be in order to succeed. So far Francis’ talking points have worked for him, but at the same time he has also shown support – to some extent – for things which Francis opposed.
Zuppi and the Masons
Zuppi has also received praise from a surprising quarter, when in 2020 a Masonic Grand Master spoke in support of Zuppi as a future pope, or papabile.
Speaking in an interview in October 2020 Gioele Magaldi – a former venerable master of the prestigious Roman Masonic lodge “Monte Sion” and later the grand master of the Democratic Grande Oriente – revealed that Zuppi had performed Magaldi’s marriage and also backed the cardinal for the papacy.
“However, I know the Vatican world and among the cardinals the one I respect most is Matteo Zuppi, who by the way married me. He would be a very good pope,” said Magaldi.
Zuppi in the Church
When news broke that Zuppi – or “Don Matteo” as he likes to be known – was to be made cardinal, the Italian left rejoiced saying, “We have a cardinal!”
In 2018 Zuppi penned an essay for the Italian translation of Father James Martin’s widely condemned pro-LGBT book, saying that the work was “useful for encouraging dialogue, as well as reciprocal knowledge and understanding, in view of a new pastoral attitude that we must seek together with our L.G.B.T. brothers and sisters.”
He also quoted Cardinal Kevin Farrell’s commendation of the book, noting “it will also help L.G.B.T. Catholics feel more at home in what is, after all, their church.”
Zuppi also praised another pro-LGBT work, written by an employee of the Italian Bishops’ Conference in 2020, which called for a change in the Church’s teaching on homosexuality. Writing a preface for the work: “When in our communities we really begin to look at people as God looks at them, then homosexual people, and everyone else, will also begin to feel, of course, part of the ecclesial community, on the way.”
The cardinal has a long history of permissive openness to homosexuality. When a scandal broke out over a priest of his diocese presiding over Italy’s first documented same-sex blessing in 2022, the priest said Zuppi was well aware of the planned event.
He later tried to backtrack as the scandal spiraled, but his actions were not received well by Catholics already outraged.
Fast forward 18 months to Fiducia Supplicans,which authorized such events, and Zuppi welcomed it. He announced the position of the Italian episcopate supporting Fiducia Supplicans during a meeting of the permanent council on January 22, 2024.
Citing “today’s challenges for the proclamation of the Gospel,” Zuppi stated the bishops “welcomed” the text. He called it “a document that is set within the horizon of mercy, of the Church’s loving gaze on all God’s children, without, however, departing from the teachings of the Magisterium.”
In December, Zuppi was cited as giving key support to an LGBT-specific Jubilee pilgrimage to Rome, which will pass through the Vatican in September this year.
However, the cardinal has also shown openness to the traditional Mass. The well-sourced Italian blog “Messa in Latina” noted that he “has always, when asked, celebrated the Tridentine Mass.”
Indeed, after Francis’ restrictions on the traditional Mass, Zuppi presided over Pontifical Vespers in Rome, for the high-profile annual Latin Mass pilgrimage.
Zuppi on the global stage
The Vatican’s own biographical details on Zuppi highlight his previous mediatory work in Mozambique alongside Sant’Egidio.
In the midst of the Russia-Ukraine war, Zuppi has emerged once again onto the international stage after Pope Francis tasked him with mediatory peace talks between both sides. The papal nomination was notable also for the fact that Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin was not chosen for the role, evidencing the growing rift between Parolin and Francis in latter years.
In this capacity, Zuppi made several trips to Ukraine and Russia in attempts to broker peace and facilitate the exchange of hostages. He also journeyed to the White House to meet President Joe Biden in 2023 as part of the overall mission.
In fact, Zuppi’s role and responsibility – along with fame – grew ever greater in this position, and he has also travelled to China and the Middle East to act personally on the pope’s behalf in the name of peace.
While Parolin seeks to maintain power, in effect Zuppi has garnered to himself true influence on the global stage, meaning that many cardinals might see him as a stronger candidate to address geopolitical crises of the day.
Zuppi has been described by some as supporting Parolin’s controversial Sino-Vatican deal, though evidence is hard to come by. But given his growing relationship with Chinese officials in his peace mission, he may well be seen as a favored candidate by Beijing, who might be keen to have a friend in the See of Peter, and one who is less visibly tarnished than Parolin.
While the Secretariat of State has gradually had power stripped away from it by Pope Francis, Zuppi’s international profile and duties have increased, making him almost a parallel secretary of state – a fact that will not be liked by Parolin if he is keen to emerge onto the loggia in white zucchetto and cassock.
Zuppi and immigration
Francis made the subject of immigration front and center in his pontificate, not distinguishing between legal and illegal. Europe is currently beset with the problems found from widely unchecked illegal immigration, much of which is channelled through Italy.
Zuppi has been noted as strongly supportive of the controversial figure Luca Casarini, whose work facilitating illegal immigration has been the subject of much focus in the Italian media and court system.
In a message from 2020, messages from Casarini to a priest associate of his group pointed to the fact that having Zuppi leading the Italian bishops would ensure ready flow of money for Casarini’s illegal immigration facilitation operation.
Casarini was later invited to participate at the Synod on Synodality as one of the non-voting members.
Though a non-exhaustive treatment of Zuppi’s political, religious, and moral record, there is already sufficient evidence to suggest that Zuppi would not be a safe pair of hands to guide the Church forward in proclaiming the teachings of Christ. Should he be elected, Catholics could expect to see many of Francis’ more revolutionary themes continued in the Church, though perhaps in a different style.
