"Several Cardinals believe deeply...Chair of Peter is vacant" claims Steve Bannon - Who are they?

Justin Haggerty | The Daily Knight

Not familiar with the Beneplenist/Benevacantist position? Watch multiple videos by Dr. Taylor Marshall and canon law experts here: Beneplenist/Benevacantist Argument - Dr. Taylor Marshall refresher (knightsrepublic.com)

On December 31st, the day that it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI had passed, Steve Bannon went to Gettr to claim that he had information that "Several Cardinals believe deeply that with the death of Pope Benedict the Chair of Peter is vacant - and a Conclave should be called to fill said Chair." The political personality and host of The War Room on Real America's Voice has been silent on the matter since.

So, who are Steve Bannon's connections in the Roman Curia? Does he have any?

It is well known that Steve Bannon once had a professional relationship with Cardinal Raymond Burke, when they partnered on the unsuccessful Dignitatis Humanae Institute, in which Burke was named ithe institute's Honorary President. Upon hearing the Bannon "received and congratulated the author of the book In the Closet of the Vatican [Sodoma] —a polemic on the issue of homosexuality in the Vatican—Cardinal Raymond Burke is putting some distance between himself and Steve Bannon."

Bannon, also a resident of New York City, may have or have had a private relationship with Cardinal Timothy Dolan. As Cardinal Dolan has often expressed his friendship and support for President Donald J. Trump, it is within reason that some contact, established during Bannon's position as the White Houst Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor for the President, may exist between the two. That being said, Dolan publicly criticized Bannon over "insulting" comments made against U.S. Catholic Bishops that they "need illegal immigrants."

Beyond Cardinals Burke and Dolan, it cannot be inferred that Bannon has any other personal relationship with members of the Cardinalate or Roman Curia. However, just because such relationships or contacts are not publicly known, does not mean that they do not exist.

It is responsible to be clear that not only has Steve Bannon not elaborated on his post on Gettr, but no other Catholic outlet or organization, at least in the English speaking world, has made similar claims.

So, can we astutely infer on which "Cardinals believe deeply" that "the Chair of Peter is vacant?" Not precisely, but there are a few who would end up on a short list.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re

Italy | 88 yrs (Not Eligible for Conclave) | Consistory: 21 Feb 2001 - John Paul II

Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Bishops & Dean of the College of Cardinals

In January 2009, it was Cardinal Re who published the decree removing the excommunications from the bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX). Additionally, Re was central in Pope Benedict XVI's attempts to discipline former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for covering up sex abuse in the Church and amanging multiple pedophile rings through the Sankt Gallen Mafia. The good Cardinal's role was revealed by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò's August 2018 "Testimony" on the coverups surrounding McCarrick. Viganò's testimony asserted that in 2000, Cardinal Re, as the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, personally opposed, albeit unsuccessfully, McCarrick's appointment as archbishop of Washington, D.C.

Although Cardinal Re was one of the six cardinals who made a public profession of obedience to the newly elected Pope Francis on behalf of the College of Cardinals on 19 March 2013, he has been described by members of the Roman Curia as a friend of the late Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, Archbishop of Milan, who played a major role in opposing the last three Popes. As prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Re appointed multiple conservative bishops throughout the Church who have opposed John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis on issues. The profession of obedience may be enough to disregard Cardinal Re as a possible Beneplenist/Benevacantist.

Cardinal Francis Arinze

Nigeria | 90 yrs (Not Eligible for Conclave) | Consistory: 25 May 1985 - John Paul II

Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

Under the Pontificate of Benedict XVI, Cardinal Arinze encouraged more Latin liturgies throughout the Church. In 2019, the Cardinal celebrated a Pontifical Tridentine Mass for Corpus Christi in London. And, in 2020, Cardinal Arinze acclaimed that "Bishops Can’t Ban Communion on the Tongue." He has been silent on Pope Francis' motu proprio "Traditionis custodes."

Cardinal Camillo Ruini

Italy | 91 yrs (Not Eligible for Conclave) | Consistory: 28 Jun 1991 - John Paul II

Vicar General emeritus for Rome and Archpriest emeritus of the Papal Basilica of Saint John Lateran

Cardinal Ruini, like Pope Benedict XVI, was seen as a social and political conservative by the progressives in the Church. Along with the "Dubia" Cardinals Scola and Caffara, Cardinal Ruini made great efforts to spread the celebration of the Tridentine Mass after Summorum Pontificum. In 2013, Cardinal Ruini was appointed the President of the Scientific Committee of the Ratzinger Foundation.

Cardinal Vinko Puljić

Bosnia and Herzegovina | 77 yrs | Consistory: 26 Nov 94 - John Paul II

Archbishop emeritus of Vrhbosna

In 2021, Cardinal Puljić dissented from Germany's "Synodal Way" and presentation of "exotic ideas’" that are alien to the Catholic Church that survived years of persecution under communism. He was retired by Pope Francis in 2022.

Cardinal Jānis Pujats

Latvia | 92 yrs (Not Eligible for Conclave) | Consistory: 21 Feb 1998 - John Paul II

Archbishop emeritus of Riga

Along with Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, and Kazakh bishops Tomasz Peta, Jan Paul Lenga, and Athanasius Schneider, Cardinal Pujats published, on 10 June 2019, a 40-point "Declaration of Truths" reaffirming traditional Catholic teaching. The group of Catholic cardinals and bishops wrote that it was necessary to publish the declaration in a time of "almost universal doctrinal confusion and disorientation." Refuting the Abu Dhabi documents of Pope Francis and multiple heretical errors in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, the declaration stated that "the religion born of faith in Jesus Christ" is the "only religion positively willed by God." Cardinal Pujat called to error Pope Fancis' document on Human Fraternity, whichclaimed that the "diversity of religions" was "willed by God."

Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, OFM

South Africa | 81 yrs (Not Eligible for Conclave) | Consistory: 21 Feb 2001 - John Paul II

Archbishop emeritus of Durban

In 2015, Cardinal Napier co-signed a letter concerning the conduct of the 2015 - XIV Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the family and evangelization, which aimed to explore modernist themes in "Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical on the morally appropriate means of regulating fertility (Humanae Vitae) and John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical on the reform of Catholic moral theology (Veritatis Splendor)." Along with twelve other Cardinals, Napier "raised serious concerns about the Instrumentum laboris," including "the choice of the people that are writing up the final document.” Cardinal Napier also defended the wrongfully persecuted, convicted, and imprisoned Cardinal Pell, a sort of "martyr," who was abandoned by the Vatican while under prosecution on false "sex abuse" charges in Australia. Many have viewed this as covert retaliation by the Sank Gallen Mafia.

Cardinal Angelo Scola

Italy | 81 yrs (Not Eligible for Conclave) | Consistory: 21 Oct 2003 - John Paul II

Archbishop emeritus of Milan

Two successors after Cardinal Martini, the close friend of Cardinal Re who led the dissent against the last three popes, Cardinal Scola spoke out against the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia on "Christian married couples and all the lay faithful on love in the family." He, along with three other Cardinals, requested clarification from Pope Francis on Amoris Laetitia, for which they were dubbed the "Dubia." It is well known that Cardinal Scola favors celebrating the Tridentine Mass; and, in 2007, he defended Pope Benedict XVI's authorization, through his promulgation of Summorum Pontificum, of the Traditional Latin Mass' wider use alongside other conservative cardinals Camillo Ruini and Carlo Caffarra, another member of the socalled "Dubia." In 2017, Cardinal Scola issued a strong defense of the Tridentine Mass and when he became archbishop of Milan immediately reversed his predecessor's restrictions on the celebration of the Latin Mass. The good Cardinal took similar actions to defend the Tridentine Mass as patriarch of Venice.

Cardinal George Pell

Australia | 81 yrs (Not Eligible for Conclave) | Consistory: 12 Oct 2003 - John Paul II

Prefect emeritus of the Secretariat for the Economy

Along with twelve other Cardinals in 2015, Cardinal Pell co-signed a letter against the conduct of the XVI Ordinary Synod of Bishops's Instrumente Laboris. He has referred to many on "Team Bergolio" as atheists, and was abannoned by Pope Francis when falsely convicted in Australia on erroneous "sex abuse" charges. It is widely believed that the persecution by the Australian justice system was initiated as a retaliation from members of the Sank Gallen Mafia. In 2009, Cardinal Pell gave his support to a call for mandatory and universal celebration of the Canon of the Mass with the orientation of the priest ad orientem, facing in the same direction as the congregation, toward the altar and tabernacle. Cardinal Pell publicly voiced his concern on the decision of Pope Benedict XVI to retire in 2013, asserting that the resignation could set a dangerous precedent which would most certainly be a problem for future pontificates. He stated that Pope Benedict XVI was failed by those around him, who were reluctant to support him in his ministry. "He was well aware that this is a break with tradition [and] slightly destabilizing", Cardinal Pell confessed.

Antonio Cañizares Llovera

Spain | 77 yrs | Consistory: 24 Mar 2006 - Benedict XVI

Archbishop emeritus of Valencia

In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Carindal Cañizares as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; and, in 2010, he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for Bishops, and the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. Cardinal Cañizares is often referred to as "Little Ratzinger," because of the similar beliefs and opinions held between him and Pope Benedict XVI. A frequent celebrant of the Tridentine Mass and over the traditional ordinations of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP), Cardinal Cañizares has ridiculed modernist liturgical innovations that fail respect continuity. In 2008, Cañizares presented the following on the best way to receive the Eucharist: "What does it mean to receive communion in the mouth? What does it mean to kneel before the Most Holy Sacrament? What does it mean to kneel during the consecration at Mass? It means adoration, it means recognizing the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; it means respect and an attitude of faith of a man who prostrates before God because he knows that everything comes from Him, and we feel speechless, dumbfounded, before the wondrousness, his goodness, and his mercy. That is why it is not the same to place the hand, and to receive communion in any fashion, than doing it in a respectful way; it is not the same to receive communion kneeling or standing up, because all these signs indicate a profound meaning."

On Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, Cardinal Cañizares argued that the "intention of the Pope has not only been to satisfy the followers of Monsignor Lefevbre, nor to confine himself to respond to the just wishes of the faithful who feel attached...to the liturgical heritage represented by the Roman Rite, but also, and in a special way, to open the liturgical richness of the Church to all the faithful, thus making possible the discovery of the treasures of the liturgical patrimony of the Church to those who still do not know it... even if there were not a single 'traditionalist' whom to satisfy, this 'discovery' would have been enough to justify the provisions of the Pope." The good Cardinal's resignation as archbishop of Valencia was accepted by Pope Francis on 10 October 2022.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, SDB

Hong Kong | 90 yrs (Not Eligible for Conclave) | Consistory: 24 Mar 2006 - Benedict XVI

Bishop emeritus of Hong Kong

In 2006, Cardinal Zen offered a Pontifical High Mass in the Tridentine Rite, receiving much support and admiration from traditional Catholics around the world. A major supporter of persecuted Catholics in communist China and advocate for democracy in Hong Kong, Cardinal Zen was a major critic of Pope Francis' pact with the CCP over the communist control of the Church and appointment/investiture of bishops. During the rise of CCP infiltration into Hong Kong and the outbreak of violence in 2020, Cardinal Zen, in his frail old-age, traveled to Rome seeking a private meeting with Pope Francis. The pontiff had no time on his schedule for the good Cardinal.

In 2021, Cardinal Zen criticized Pope Francis's motu proprio, Traditionis custodes, commenting that "Many tendentious generalizations in the documents [of the motu proprio] have hurt the hearts of many good people more than expected." The Cardinal believed that many people who had been hurt by the restrictions "have never given the smallest reason to be suspected of not accepting the liturgical reform of the [Second Vatican Council]." Cardinal Zen was arrested, detained, charged, and convicted (small fine) by a pro-CCP prosecution and court in Hong Kong on cooked-up-charges for failing to report funds gifted to public protests. While there exists the threat of larger charges for the aging prelate, Pope Francis has refused to intervene with Beijing on the Cardinal's behalf.

Cardinal John Njue

Kenya | 78 yrs | Consistory: 24 Nov 2007 - Benedict XVI

Archbishop emeritus of Nairobi

In 2015, Cardinal Njue co-signed a letter concerning the conduct of the 2015 - XIV Ordinary Synod of Bishops' Instrumente Laboris on the family and evangelization, which aimed to explore modernist themes in "Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical on the morally appropriate means of regulating fertility (Humanae Vitae) and John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical on the reform of Catholic moral theology (Veritatis Splendor)." The good Cardinal was highly criticized and censored by the progressives in the Vatican for his comments against the Kenyan descendant, President Barrack H. Obama's, support for "gay marriage" and "gay rights." He has not publicly coitized Pope Francis, and other members of the Curia, for their efforts to loosen the Church's teachings on homosexuality, marriage, and transhumanism.

Cardinal Robert Sarah

Guinea | 77 yrs | Consistory: 20 Nov 2010 - Benedict XVI

Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

In 2016, Cardinal Sarah, a well known celebrate of the Tridentine Mass, stated that the Second Vatican Council did not require priests to celebrate Mass versus populum. In fact, he clarified that versus populum was "a possibility, but not an obligation," and affirmed that "as soon as we reach the moment when one addresses God – from the Offertory onwards – it is essential that the priest and faithful look together towards the east," which, according to Cardinal Sarah, "corresponds exactly to what the Council Fathers wanted." For Holy Communion, Cardinal Sarah has often encouraged all Roman rite Catholics to receive Communion kneeling and on the tongue, and has said that Pope Francis had asked him to "continue the liturgical work Pope Benedict began." In 2015, Cardinal Sarah was one of the thirteen Cardinals to co-sign the letter dissenting against the XIV Ordinary Synod of Bishops' Instrumente Laboris on the family and evangelization. In 2018, the good Cardinal celebrated the Tridentine Mass and provided the homily to the Chartres Pilgrims, primarily composed of lay congregations of the SSPX and FSSP. In 2022, after motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, Cardinal Sarah was forbidden from celebrating the pontifical high Mass with the same pilgrimage in Paris. Often seen as a reaction to Cardinal Sarah's continued dissent and support for tradition and the Tridentine Mass, Pope Francis accepted Sarah's resignation as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship in 2021. Cardinal Sarah has not publically criticized Traditionis Custodes, but defended Pope Francis, in that the motu proprio was not to restrict the Tridentine Mass.

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke

United States | 74 yrs | Consistory: 20 Nov 2010 - Benedict XVI

Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

A prominent canon lawyer in the Church, Cardinal Burke viewed as the strongest voice of traditionalism among prelates of the Catholic Church, and is often recognized as the de facto leader of the Church's conservative wing. Cardinal Burke is the chief proponent of the Tridentine Mass, having frequently celebrated it and conferred ordinations on traditionalist priests in the FSSP and Insitute Christ the King Sovereign. The Cardinal has publicly criticized the deficiencies in the post-1969 Mass of Paul VI. Now free to expand the celebration of the Tridentine Mass after Summorum Pontificum, Cardinal Burke proclaimed the motu proprio as "the most splendid contribution of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI".

Cardinal Burke is a member of the four "Dubia" Cardinals who challenged Pope Francis over Amoris Laetitia. In 2015, Cardinal Burke had been reappointed to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and the Congregation for Bishops and the Apostolic Signatura in 2013; but, was not reappointed as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship in 2017, which was viewed as the beginning of him being sidelined by Pope Francis. Cardinal Burke was again pushed aside by Pope Francis when he appointed Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu as his special delegate to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, granting him exclusive responsibility for the duties which would normally be exercised by Cardinal Burke as the Order's patron. Albrecht von Boeselager, the order's grand chancellor, announced that the move meant that Cardinal Burke was "de facto suspended" from the patronage.

In 2011, Cardinal Burke "argued that too many priests and bishops treat violations of liturgical norms as something that is unimportant, when they are actually "serious abuses" that damage the faith of Catholics." The good Cardinal went further to criticize the lack of reverence in modern liturgy, stating "If we err by thinking we are the center of the liturgy, the Mass will lead to a loss of faith." In 2015, Cardinal Burke reiterated his concern that the modern-progressive man has become center of Mass, saying that "In many places the Mass became very priest‑centered, it was like the 'priest show.' This type of abuse leads to a loss of the sense of the sacred, taking the essential mystery out of the Mass. The reality of Christ Himself coming down on the altar to make present His sacrifice on Calvary gets lost." For this atrocity and the declining attendance at Mass, Cardinal Burke blamed the modernization of the liturgy after the Second Vatican Council. He explained that "in some cases it actually became hard for people to bear because of illicit insertions, foreign agendas, and imposition of the personalities of priests and congregations into the liturgy to the point that people began to think that the Mass was some sort of social activity...If one understands what the Mass truly is — Christ Himself coming down from Heaven to renew the sacrifice of Calvary — how could you possibly not be there on Sunday?"

Pope Francis' Traditionis custodes, issued in July 2021, which effectively reversed Summorum Pontificum by placing limits on priests offering the Tridentine Mass, was condemned by Cardinal Burke. The canon lawyer asserted that he could not understand the Pope's claim that the Novus Ordo form represented the "unique expression" of the Roman Rite of the Mass, because the Traditional Form "is a living form of the Roman Rite and has never ceased to be so." Cardinal Burke does not accept the "hermeneutic of continuity" proclaimed by modernists for the Novus Ordo. While Pope Francis denounced the Traditional Mass as a tool to promote schism in the Church, Cardinal Burke defended that he had witnessed such conditions in practice. Furthermore, the good Cardinal challenged the Pope's document as being "marked by harshness" towards those faithful who attend the Tridentine Mass. He also criticized the immediate nature of the motu proprio, not providing "adequate time for those affected to study its meaning." Cardinal Burke proclaimed that Pope Francis lacked the authority to eliminate and restrict the Traditional Mass.

Cardinal Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don

Sri Lanka | 75 yrs | Consistory: 20 Nov 2010 - Benedict XVI

Archbishop of Colombo

In 2005, Cardinal Ranjith was appointed secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The Cardinal has described the liturgical reforms in Pope Paul VI's Novus Ordo Missae and inspired by the Second Vatican Council as "a mixed bag of results." Furthermore, Cardinal Ranjith has criticized the "quasi total abandonment" of Latin and the "acceptance of all kinds of 'novelties' resulting from a secularizing and humanizing theological and liturgical mindset overtaking the West." The good Cardinal has also voiced his concern over the "banalization and obscuring of the mystical and sacred aspects of the liturgy in many areas of the Church in the name of a so-called Konzilsgeist (spirit of the Council)." He is a staunch opponent of reception of Holy Communion in the hand and standing, stating, "I think it is high time to ... abandon the current practice that was not called for by Sacrosanctum Concilium, nor by Fathers, but was only accepted after its illegitimate introduction in some countries."

Cardinal Ranjith is an avid supporter of the Tridentine Mass, also believing that bishops who opposed Summorum Pontificum were being "used as instruments of the devil," and guilty of "disobedience ... and even rebellion against the Pope." He admitted once that, "I'm not a fan of the Lefebvrians ... but what they sometimes say about the liturgy they say for good reason." In 2009, Cardinal Ranjith administered new liturgical guidelines: "all faithful, including the religious, to receive Holy Communion reverently kneeling and on the tongue", as well as laymen were forbidden from preaching. Additionally, expressing his position against ecumenism, priests were forbidden to bring any elements or styles of worship from other religions into the liturgy.

Cardinal Walter Brandmüller

Germany | 93 yrs (Not Eligible for Conclave) | Consistory: 20 Nov 2010 - Benedict XVI

President emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences

In 2016, Cardinal Brandmüller, along with Cardinals Carlo, Caffarra, Raymond Burke, and Joachim Meisner, issued a letter with five dubia (questions) seeking clarification on doctrine put forward in the Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia. The first dubium concerned the controversial and sacrilegious reception of the sacraments by the divorced and remarried in the Church; and the other four confronted fundamental issues of the Christian life, as articulated in Pope John Paul II's encyclical Veritatis splendor. Later that year, having not received a response from Pope Francis, the "Dubia" Cardinals published their letter, "Seeking Clarity: A Plea to Untie the Knots in Amoris Laetitia."

After Archbishop Vigano's testamony and the fall of McCarrick, Cardinals Brandmüller and Burke released a public letter in 2019 addressed to Pope Francis pleading for an end of "the plague of the homosexual agenda," which, according to their argument, was the root cause of the rampant sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The two Cardinals claimed the homosexual agenda was spread by "organized networks," like the communist-homosexual Sankt Gallen Mafia, that were shielded by a "conspiracy of silence" across the Roman Curia and the Vatican. The good Cardinal has also criticized Pope Francis' motu proprio Traditionis Custodes.

Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins

Canada | 75 yrs | Consistory: 18 Feb 2012 - Benedict XVI

Archbishop of Toronto

In 2015, Cardinal Collins co-signed a letter concerning the conduct of the 2015 - XIV Ordinary Synod of Bishops' Instrumente Laboris on the family and evangelization, which aimed to explore modernist themes in "Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical on the morally appropriate means of regulating fertility (Humanae Vitae) and John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical on the reform of Catholic moral theology (Veritatis Splendor)." Cardinal Collins was smeared by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who covered up the sex abuse of McCarrick and the Sank Gallen Mafia, and progressive priests in the Toronto Star for "disliking" Pope Francis. The good Cardinal rebuked the charges.

Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk

Netherlands | 69 yrs | Consistory: 18 Feb 2012 - Benedict XVI

Archbishop of Utrecht

Not as a member of the "Dubia," yet publicly, Cardinal Eijk was a major critic of Pope Francis' Amoris laetitia. The good Cardinal also co-signed the letter concerning the 2015 - XIV Ordinary Synod of Bishops' Instrumente Laboris.

In 2018, he reaffirmed his position against Amoris laetitia, asserting that the document had "caused doubt to be sown" and claimed that Pope Francis should be more clear that marriage is "one and unbreakable" and that a remarried and divorced Catholic must be denied Holy Communion. Additionally, when Pope Francis failed to reject a draft proposal by the German Bishops' Conference to grant Protestants access to Holy Communion, Cardinal Eijk asserted that Pope Francis failed to defend "the clear doctrine and practice of the Church" and that the German synodal path was "a drift towards apostasy from the Truth" under the watch of Pope Francis.

Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan

United States | 72 yrs | Consistory: 18 Feb 2012 - Benedict XVI

Archbishop of New York

In 2015, Cardinal Dolan also co-signed the letter concerning the conduct of the 2015 - XIV Ordinary Synod of Bishops' Instrumente Laboris on the family and evangelization, which aimed to explore modernist themes in "Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical on the morally appropriate means of regulating fertility (Humanae Vitae) and John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical on the reform of Catholic moral theology (Veritatis Splendor)." He caused stirs across the Church when he, in 2020, mailed copies of George Weigel's "The Next Pope: The Office of Peter and a Church in Mission," which suggested qualities of the next Pontiff, to Cardinals around the world. It was widely suggested that Cardinal Dolan was insinuating that Pope Francis lacked such qualities. Cardinal Doland was a staunch proponent of the communist Sankt Gallen Mafia's sexual abuse coverups amid the testimony of Archbishop Vigano against McCarrick, Wuerl, and Pope Francis. Some have linked his veracity against the conspiratorial-pedophile rings in the Church to President Donald J. Trump's position against such hidden organizations across the United States. The two, as members of New York City high society, were uniquely positioned to understand the networks that predators like McCarrick and Epstein operated in. Cardinal Dolan has been criticized by progressives for his friendship with and support for President Donald Trump, for whom he provided the invocation at the 2020 Republican National Convention.

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller

Germany | 75 yrs | Consistory: 22 Feb 2014 - Francis

Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Cardinal Müller, in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), stated that Pope Francis "is not so much a liberation theologian in the academic sense but, as far as pastoral work is concerned, he has close ties with liberation theology's concerns. What we can learn from him is the insight that there is no pastoral work without profound theology and vice versa." The Cardinal's position against the pseudo-Catholic-marxist liberation theology was lock step with Pope's Benedict XVI and John Paul II. In the 1980s, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger waged a theological and doctrinal war against certain forms of liberation theology as borrowing "from various currents of Marxist thought."

After Pope Francis permitted and participated in the pagan-idolatry of Pachamama in the Vatican in 2019, Cardinal Müller dissented and defended the lay Catholics who threw one of the Pachamamas into the Tiber. The Cardinal asserted that "the great mistake was to bring the idols into the church, not to put them out."

Later in 2019, Cardinal Müller published a "Manifesto of Faith" to multiple Catholic media outlets. The manifesto was a defense of the Church and its teachings against the onslaught of modernism. Many have viewed Cardinal Müller's writings as an attack against Pope Francis, who forced the Cardinal to resign from the CDF in 2017. Cardinal Müller, throughout the manifesto, defended priestly celibacy, asserted the church's lack of authority to ordain women to the priesthood or diaconate, and challenged Pope Francis's move to open communion to divorced and remarried Catholics in Amoris Laetitia.

In 2021, Cardinal Müller, a major proponent for the Tridentine Mass, was critical of Traditionis custodes. In a letter for the online publication The Catholic Thing, Cardinal Müller slammed the motu proprio as "harsh" and ridiculed Pope Francis' attack on traditional Catholics while aiding the schismatic German Synodal Path, by stating, "instead of appreciating the smell of the sheep, the shepherd here hits them hard with his crook." The good Cardinal also contrasted the suppression of the Tridentine Mass with the heretical promotion of pagan elements within the liturgy at the 2019 Amazon Synod, in which said: "the paganization of the Catholic liturgy […] through the mythologization of nature, the idolatry of environment and climate, as well as the Pachamama spectacle, were rather counterproductive for the restoration and renewal of a dignified and orthodox liturgy reflective of the fulness of the Catholic faith."

On December 31st, 2022, upon learning of the death of Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Müller proclaimed His Holiness a "Doctor of the Church."

To Be Clear

The above list of Cardinals is only an astute illustration of prelates who may have cause, whether that be canonical or doctrinal, to support the Beneplenist/Benevacantist position.

Steve Bannon has not elaborated on his post on Gettr since originally stating his claim after the death of Pope Benedict XVI, nor has any other Catholic outlet or organization, at least in the English speaking world, made similar claims.

We at The Daily Knight are diligently investigating Steve Bannon's claims, and he has not responded to our request for additional information and sources.

In Christ Crucified and the Most Victorious Heart of Jesus.