Will the anti-Catholic Cardinal of Madrid Be Promoted to Rome?

On 27 May, Pope Leo XIV received Sister Alessandra Smerilli, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Cardinal Fabio Baggio, C.S., undersecretary of the same body, in audience. Cardinal Michael Czerny, the prefect of the dicastery, was absent.

Czerny will turn 80 in 2026. Jaime Gurpegui writes on InfoVaticana.com that the anti-Catholic Cardinal Cobo of Madrid is mentioned as a possible successor with some insistence.

Cardinal Cobo has made issues such as immigration, inter-religious relations and climate change the backbone of his ministry.

Some see Cardinal Cobo's potential transfer to Rome as an elegant solution to a situation that is increasingly concerning in Madrid.

Many Catholics in Madrid openly express their confusion regarding some of Cobo’s attitudes. For them, his 'promotion' to Rome would be a providential liberation.

Picture: José Cobo Cano © wikicommons, CC BY-SA, #newsKwbfwblluj