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[quote=Anonymous]Apparently Prevost's nickname in Rome was "the Latin Yankee," so the idea that the Cardinals of the conclave were ignorant of the fact that they were choosing an American pope or the potential message that would send is really farfetched to me.

To be clear, I don't think they sat down and were like "Well the point of this conclave is to select a pope in response to what is happening in the United States." Obviously not. But just as they would have been acutely aware of the message that choosing Pizzabolla would have sent (an Italian living in Israel), or Tagle (an Asian cardinal from the most devoutly Catholic Asian country), the were definitely aware that choosing Prevost would have implications and they were comfortable with those implications.

One thing that might have worked in Prevost's favor is that while he is clearly American (he has a midwest accent! he votes in American elections) his criticism of Trump and Vance make it abundantly obvious he's not somewhat beholden to prevailing American politics. One historical concern about the idea of an American pope has been the fear that the world's greatest military and economic power producing a Holy Father could be seen as vesting too much power in the US. But Prevost's time in Peru and clear disagreements with the current administration mark him as independent in a way that would matter to Catholics from other nations. The US is seen as too powerful and deeply corrupt in many corners of the world. This is why someone like Cardinal Dolan, even if the conclave had been interested in a more conservative Pope in the vein of Benedict, would likely be a non-starter. Especially with Trump openly endorsing Dolan. Prevost sidesteps those issues.

The Cardinals know all this. It was absolutely something many of them considered before throwing support behind Prevost. [/quote]

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