As for the leader in closest proximity to the Vatican, Italian PM Meloni ordered her MPs to stay silent. Nonetheless, media outlets close to her coalition have been pushing cardinals who might share her views, and attacking unpalatable candidates.
Bugging the conclave
In days gone by, foreign powers have often tried to influence conclaves, particularly during the Cold War when the CIA was suspected of bugging it. Indeed, until the early 20th century, France, Spain and Austria-Hungary could even veto which pope was elected.
Now, at a time of waning Western moral authority and influence in multilateral institutions, the election of a pope with a more nuanced global outlook on China and Ukraine could be problematic. Pope Francis redistributed power by creating an unusually large number of cardinals from the global south, signaling a church that can no longer be assumed to be an offshoot of the West.
“More than Greenland or the Panama canal, Trump wants the Church back ― with the West,” said Piero Schiavazzi, professor of Vatican geopolitics at Link University in Rome.
Meanwhile, Macron, who is in political difficulty at home, is pushing for a progressive French pope, Schiavazzi said, “as a spiritual leader with maximum authority”
“He could help steer French public opinion toward the center left,” he said.