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Argentinian Cardinal to Replace Ailing Pope for Palm Sunday Mass

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ROME — Argentinian Cardinal Leonardo Sandri will substitute Pope Francis in the celebration of Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter’s Square due to the pontiff’s ill health, the Vatican has announced.

Sandri, the former prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Eastern Churches, revealed that he had been informed last Monday that he would celebrate Palm Sunday Mass, which kicks off the Holy Week celebrations that will culminate with Easter Sunday.

“Yes, of course, I can confirm that I will celebrate the Mass of the Palms on Sunday,” Sandri said. “I was warned already last Monday by the Master of Papal Ceremonies that the Holy Week liturgies would each be celebrated by a cardinal, and they asked me for Palm Sunday.”

The Vatican reportedly still hopes that Pope Francis will be well enough to preside over the Easter Mass, which will be officiated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, and that the pope will be able to impart the Urbi et Orbi blessing from the central loggia of the Basilica.

A reporter speaks in front her smartphone set for a stand-up outside of the Policlinico Gemelli hospital, where Pope Francis has been hospitalized on Wednesday 29 due to a respiratory infection, in Rome, Italy, on March 30, 2023. (Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Palm Sunday falls on April 2 this year, the 18th anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II. On that day in 2005, when the pontiff could no longer speak, it was the same Cardinal Sandri who spoke in the pope’s place.

Pope Francis spent his second night in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital Thursday, after being rushed in an ambulance Wednesday afternoon after complaining of breathing difficulties and pains in his chest.

The pope is currently being treated for a “respiratory infection,” which will require several days in hospital. On Thursday, papal spokesman Matteo Bruni said that Francis is being treated with antibiotics for viral bronchitis.

According to the Italian daily Il Messaggero, no one knows exactly what is wrong with the pope, and the official bulletin from the Vatican Press Office has only served to confuse people more.

Just weeks ago, Pope Francis celebrated his tenth anniversary as pope to mixed reviews. In 2013 he was elected as the first pontiff from Latin America and the first from the Jesuit order founded by Saint Ignatius Loyola.

Buon Appetito! Italy Will Ban Synthetic and Lab-Grown Meat

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The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has backed legislation that would ban lab-made meat and other synthetic foods in Italy, in a bid to preserve the nation’s internationally acclaimed cuisine.

Following a petition that received over 500,000 signatures, the populist coalition government of Giorgia Meloni has expressed its strong support for the nation’s farmers, the traditional Mediterranean diet of Italy, and to plant the flag firmly against the Great Reset-drive to replace real meat with synthetic proteins grown in laboratories.

Explaining the decision of the government to back the ban on synthetic foods, Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida said per the Il Messaggero newspaper: “They are poor quality foods. We protect health and the environment.”

“If this phenomenon were to succeed in imposing itself on the markets, it would produce more unemployment, there would be social injustice,” adding that the legislation will put “Italy at the forefront” of the movement against fake foods.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci said: “We are based on the principle of prevention and preserve the agri-food heritage of our nation. We are for the Mediterranean diet.”

The move came after the agricultural firm Coldiretti collected over 500,000 signatures against the proliferation of synthetic meat. Should the legislation be implemented, those who violate the law would be liable to face fines of up to €60,000 (£53,000).

Following the announcement of the government’s decision to support the bill, a “flash mob” of supporters gathered outside the Chigi Palace in Rome, the 16th century building which has become the official residence of the Prime Minister of Italy.

Surprisingly, Prime Minister Meloni left her office to come out and speak before the crowd, saying: “We could only celebrate with our farmers and the president of Coldiretti a measure that puts Italy at the forefront, also on the subject of consumer protection.”

“We are linked to the fact that every citizen who eats here, who eats in the homeland of excellence, can have the same opportunities to consume food of which he knows exactly where he comes from,” she added.

There have been previous attempts to push back against the fake meat industry, including an effort led by French socialist MEP Éric Andrieu in 2019 to force producers of fake meat items such as veggie burgers to drop their meat-sounding titles, and use proposed alternatives such as “veggie discs”. However, in 2020, Brussels shut down the proposal, arguing that a shift towards a more plant-based diet falls in line with the EU’s green agenda.

The anti-meat push has picked up steam in recent years, with globalist figures and institutions such as the World Economic Forum throwing their weight behind the leftist idea. Earlier this year, for example, at the annual WEF summit in Davos, the chairman of German manufacturing giant Siemens, Jim Hagemann Snabe called for a dramatic global reduction in meat consumption to mitigate the alleged impact of humans on the environment.

“If a billion people stop eating meat, I tell you, it has a big impact. Not only does it have a big impact on the current food system, but it will also inspire innovation of food systems,” the Siemens boss claimed, adding: “I predict we will have proteins not coming from meat in the future, they will probably taste even better.”

The Klaus Schwab-founded globalist institution has been at the forefront of the anti-meat movement, advocating for the adoption of supposedly more “climate beneficial foods” like as algae, cacti, seaweed and the normalisation of bug-based protein sources.

The globalist institution has also promulgated the notion of switching to an insect protein-based diet to supposedly become more sustainable.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka