With the College of Cardinals soon moving to select a new Pope in the wake of Pope Francis’ passing, some right-wingers on social media are terrified that DEI will dictate the secret ballot, despite the principle of diversity, equality, and inclusion not part of Catholic doctrine.
“So I’m taking bets on the next pope, will it be a DEI hire?” asked one account on Truth Social.
Others echoed past criticism of Pope Francis being too “woke,” promoting LGBTQ acceptance within the Church and publicly condemning the Trump administration’s anti-migrant policies.
And while the Vatican has no diversity mandate, Pope Francis appointed a great number of new cardinals, who will be in charge of picking the next pope, with right-wingers fearing the election has already been tainted.
“Bergoglio stacked the college of cardinals with enemies of the Church,” wrote a poster, refusing to use Francis’ chosen name. “Hopefully a truly Catholic pope will be elected.”
“Now the College of Cardinals has a direction to choose … There are those who seek a black Pope, hoping to solidify their DEI driven desire for inclusion … Who will this new Pope serve? Christ? Unlikely. With the significant changes that Francis made within the College of Cardinals, I suspect it will be a more profoundly Satanic globalist,” read one long screed.
“They’ll double down on their last horrible decision- y’all ready for a DEI pope?” one Truth Social user bemoaned.
“The Pope was a woke liberal & a false teacher who cared more about the WEF than he cared about the Bible,” decried ex-West Virginia State Delegate and Jan. 6 Capitol riot participant Derrick Evans. “My only concern is the next Pope may be even further to the left.”
And some of the same DEI critics are appalled by the possibility of a non-white pope.
“$10 says next Pope is black, ps FU DEI!” blasted one person.
Two of the leading candidates viewed as frontrunners to succeed Pope Francis are Asian and African: Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines and Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana.
There has not been a pope of Asian descent for over 12 centuries—Syrian-born Pope Gregory III, who reigned from 731 to 741—and there has not been a pope of African descent for even longer than that. Pope Francis was the first pope from Latin America.
“DEI is hitting the Vatican now?” blasted one X account of the possibility of either Tagle or Turkson becoming the next Pope.
“Oh, great – a DEI pope to match the times,” another user echoed.
And one prominent Trump influencer called on the president to fix the election.
“Obama got his globalist Pope,” wrote DC_Draino, “I hope Trump team uses every ounce of power and leverage to get a religious Pope.”
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