To understand Vatican politics, follow the US dollar
The event, hosted by an influential US-based Catholic organisation, the Papal Foundation, began with a speech by its chairman, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a charismatic conservative-leaning prelate from New York. Dolan, 75, joked that the ballroom, with its chandeliers, columns and ceiling frescoes, was pleasant enough 'but not as nice as the Sistine Chapel', where he will be sequestered from Wednesday with 132 other cardinals for the conclave to select the next pope.
The previous day, President Trump had appeared to nominate Dolan as his preferred candidate.
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