World
Out in the world: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia
Two teenagers sentenced to life in prison for murdering trans teenager in England

UNITED KINGDOM

On Friday, the judge presiding over the trial of two teenagers convicted in the brutal stabbing death of transgender teenager Brianna Ghey, a crime that shook northern England, sentenced the pair to life in prison.
Manchester Crown Court Justice Amanda Yip sentenced Scarlett Jenkinson to life in prison with a minimum of 22 years and Eddie Ratcliffe to life with a minimum of 20 years, noting that the pair, both 16, took part in a “brutal, planned murder” that was “sadistic in nature” and motivated by “hostility towards Brianna because of her transgender identity.”
Ghey was a 16-year-old trans girl, TikTok creator and a “beacon of positivity,” according to her friends. She would often film videos set to music while showing off her makeup or walking in a park. It was in one of these parks that her life was taken in February of this year.
In the immediate aftermath of her murder, countless people mourned for her and decried the senseless violence. Her TikToks became makeshift memorials with millions of likes and views.
Many people considered the idea that anti-trans sentiment and rampant transphobia in the U.K. may have played a role in her murder.
PinkNewsUK reported that as he read his victim impact statement at Manchester Crown Court, Brianna’s father, Peter Spooner, described Jenkinson and Ratcliffe as “pure evil.”
“Now my world has been torn apart. Justice may have been done but no amount of time in prison will be enough for these monsters,” he said.
“I cannot call them children because that makes them sound naive or vulnerable, which they are not — they are pure evil. Brianna was the vulnerable one.”

British Conservative Party politician Michael Freer announced he has decided to step down at the next general election after an arson attack on his constituency office and receiving death threats.
PinkNewsUK reported that the 63-year-old Tory, who currently also serves as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Courts and Legal Services, has faced a series of death threats and was even targeted by Ali Harbi Ali, the man who murdered Southend West MP David Amess in 2021.
Freer revealed that he and his staff began wearing stab vests at public events after they learned Ali had watched his Finchley office before stabbing Amess at a constituency surgery. An arson attack in December was the “final straw.”
Speaking to Sky News, Freer said: “There comes a point when the threats to your personal safety become too much. I was very lucky that actually on the day [of Ali’s attempted attack] I was due to be in Finchley, I happened to change my plans and came into Whitehall.
Otherwise, who knows whether I would have been attacked or survived an attack. He said he came to Finchley to attack me.”
There have been other threats the MP said including from a group calling themselves Muslims Against Crusades, “about coming to stab me.”
According to PinkNewsUK Freer joins a number of MPs who have said they will not be standing at the next general election, which is expected later this year.
FRANCE

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in a speech before the National Assembly, the lower house of France’s Parliament, told legislators that “mindsets are evolving” on LGBTQ issues in the country.
In his first keynote address Attal said that France was “tearing itself apart just 10 years ago over same-sex marriage,” he added, whereas “being French in 2024 means … being able to be prime minister and openly gay.” This was “proof our country is moving and mindsets are evolving,” the prime minister noted.
It was the first time the 34-year-old prime minister has referenced his sexual orientation so directly since his installation earlier this month, which was hailed by LGBTQ groups as “a powerful symbol,” Agence France-Presse reported.
But Attal’s sexual orientation has caused barely a ripple in wider French public debate that has more often seen him attacked as a carbon copy of his polarizing boss, French President Emmanuel Macron.
SPAIN

Mario Alcalde made history in the country’s bullfighting sport last month, but not as a matador. The 31-year-old native of Madrid’s Alameda de Osuna neighborhood, where he grew up, revealed in an interview with El Mundo that he identifies as pansexual.
“I’m pansexual. I identify strongly with the LGBTI+ flag. Every person has their taste. I fall in love with the person inside, not their gender,” he said adding, “I follow my own rhythm. My tastes, both political and sexual, are not normal in the bullfighting world.”
Alcalde declined to discuss the politics of being queer further, instead noting his decision to be open about his sexuality and being the first out LGBTQ matador in a sport known for its toxic masculinity occurred after being treated for a dislocated shoulder and broken clavicle after an accident in Madrid’s Las Ventas bullring.
He explained that after a doctor saw he was “wrapped in a rainbow flag dedicated to the Mario Alcalde LGBTQ+ Bullfighting Club” he decided to come out.
Despite confessing that he felt “everyone in the LGBTQ+ community is anti-bullfighting,” the pansexual matador is making it his life’s goal to start a bullfighting club in Madrid’s LGBTQ neighborhood, Chueca.
“Once you confess who you are and the person gets to know you, it’s nice because they begin to see it in a different light,” he said.
“I have to do things so that the community gets involved. They’ll come to watch me fight. At first, they’re very closed minded, there’s too much ignorance and they don’t know what bullfighting is all about.”
He hopes that coming out will not bring negative attention but claims “I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”
In addition to his endeavors in the ring as a matador, he also earns a living as a baggage handler at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport. “I don’t depend on anyone, that’s why I also work in the airport,” he said.

A painting commissioned by Semana Santa Hermandades, a group of Catholic lay people who organize and perform public religious acts during Seville’s annual Holy Week observances, has drawn severe critique from Spanish conservatives.
The painting, unveiled at the end of January by renowned artist Salustiano García who told the media in attendance at the ceremony that his version of a resurrected Jesus painted against a flat red background was modeled after his son, Horacio.
Spanish social media users derided the work creating memes poking fun at the image or defended the artist, while political conservatives including Pablo Herfelder García-Conde of the ultraconservative Catholic organization Instituto de Política Social labeled the image an “aberration” and a “sexualized and effeminate” Jesus.
Javier Navarro of Spain’s far-right Vox party described the image as a provocation and “homosexual.”
In response to the criticism, the painter told the Spanish newspaper ABC that his portrayal of Jesus was “gentle, elegant and beautiful” and created with “deep respect.”
“To see sexuality in my image of Christ, you must be sick,” he said, insisting there was “nothing” in his painting that “has not already been represented in artworks dating back hundreds of years.”
PORTUGAL

In a statement released on his official website at the end of January, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced that he had vetoed the law that established the measures that schools had to apply to guarantee the right to self-determination of gender identity for students in schools.
De Sousa, a right-leaning conservative, said that he rejected the choice of a neutral name “because it considers that the decree does not guarantee a balance with respect to the essential principle of personal freedom.” He added that law which required schools to adopt to apply the law that establishes gender self-determination “do not sufficiently respect the role of parents, guardians, legal representatives and associations formed by them, nor does it clarify the different situations based on age.
The president returned the law to the Portuguese Parliament to “consider introducing more realism” in an issue in which there is little value in affirming principles that clash, due to their abstract values, with people, families and schools.”
FINLAND

The 65-year-old former Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto is now in a tight three-way run off race seeking to become the country’s next president. Haavisto, who is openly gay, has been running as an independent against former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb and Parliamentary Speaker Jussi Halla-aho.
The primary contest, according to Euronews, is between Stubb, who likely gained 27.3 percent of the initial voting and Haavisto at 25.8 percent, in the runoff elections on Feb. 11. Finnish public broadcaster YLE reported Stubb, 55, and Haavisto were the main contenders in the election. About 4.5 million eligible voters picked a successor out of nine candidates to hugely popular President Sauli Niinistö, whose second six-year term expires in March. He wasn’t eligible for re-election. The initial voter turnout was calculated to be 74.9 percent.
The Guardian UK reported that as a part of his campaigning across Finland, Haavisto has previously warned that country must crack down on hate speech against minorities — both as a pressing social issue and a national security issue — he said in other ways he has seen signs of progress during his time on the campaign trail.
“You could see that people could never imagine that gay men could be elected. But this has been changing.”
This is a critical time for the Nordic nation. Finland’s president holds executive power in formulating foreign and security policy. Euronews noted that abandoning decades of military nonalignment in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland became NATO’s 31st member in April, much to the annoyance of President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which shares a 832 mile border with the country.
NATO membership, which has made Finland the Western military alliance’s front-line country toward Russia, and the war raging in Ukraine a mere 621 miles away from Finland’s border have boosted the president’s status as a security policy leader.
As foreign minister, Haavisto signed Finland’s historic accession treaty to NATO last year and played a key role in the membership process along with Niinistö and former Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
RUSSIA

The Sormovskiy District Court in Nizhny Novgorod, a city on the Volga River that is 265 miles east of the Russian capital city, sentenced a woman to five days in jail for wearing earrings in the shape of a frog with a rainbow. This was one of the first two convictions since Russia’s draconian anti-LGBTQ ruling by the country’s Supreme Court
Anastasia Yershova was found guilty by a judge of publicly displaying symbols of an “LGBTQ extremist” organization prohibited under a ruling by Russia’s Supreme Court this past November that “the international LGBTQ movement” is “extremist,” and any symbols including Pride flags would be considered illegal. Yershova’s attorney noted to Shkulev Media that the judge didn’t define “symbol” in handing down his sentence.
According to multiple Russian media outlets, the case against Yershova was brought after an unidentified man threatened to turn her and a companion into the police for wearing a Ukrainian flag pin and rainbow earrings in a public cafe. After she refused the man filmed the encounter and then uploaded the video on Russian social media where it went viral.
Russian security police tasked with combating “extremism” arrested Yershova and brought charges. The press office for the Sormovsky District Court confirmed the account in the charging documents and the sentence but refused further comment.
The Krasnooktyabrsky District Court in Volgograd earlier last week found a man identified only as Artyom P. guilty of “exposing the symbols of an extremist organization” after he had shared a photo of the rainbow flag online in a social media post.
The court’s press office said that the man had pleaded guilty and said he had made a “stupid” gesture. The court stated that he was sentenced to pay a fine of 1,000 rubles ($11.04.)
MALAYSIA

Malaysia’s Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil told reporters during a press conference this past week that a scheduled concert by British singer-songwriter and musician Ed Sheeran would go on as planned at Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Feb. 24.
A senior Muslim cleric and leader in the Malay Archipelago had publicly rebuked the government for issuing permits to Sheeran over the latter’s allyship for the LGBTQ community globally.
“As ‘mufti,’ it is my responsibility to urge the Malaysian government, through the relevant ministries (Communication Ministry and Digital Ministry) to revoke the permit for the concert immediately,” the South China Morning Post reported Wan Salim Mohd Noor said to Sinar Harian, a Malay-language daily newspaper.
Salim said Malaysia, as a nation with a predominantly Muslim population, should not allow concerts featuring artists who support “sinful” activities. He also urged all Muslims in the country to boycott the concert.
The minister told reporters the Islamic Development Malaysia Department and the Home Ministry are involved in discussions to grant approvals for concert permits by foreign acts.
“I have spoken about this to the Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artists (Puspal) and I take note of the suggestion by the mufti [Noor] on this,” Fadzil said.
“However, Jakim and the Home Ministry are among the 16 agencies involved in the discussions to approve applications for gigs by foreign artists, through the Puspal committee. Therefore, thorough vetting would have been done by all these agencies,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“We take note of the views but we have a process. We will look into the matter if there is a need. At this time, there are no changes in the approval for the concert.”
Additional reporting by PinkNewsUK, Agence France-Presse, El Mundo/The Olive Press, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, Euronews, The Guardian UK, Fontanka, the BBC and the South China Morning Post.
Lesotho
LGBTQ activist murdered in Lesotho
Authorities have arrested a suspect in Kabelo Seseli’s death

Kabelo Seseli, a gay crossdresser and LGBTQ activist in Lesotho, was murdered over the weekend in a suspected homophobic attack.
According to the People’s Matrix Association, a LGBTQ rights organization, Seseli’s body was found with stab wounds on their neck and genitals.
“This was not just a murder, it was a hate-driven, dehumanizing act meant to send a message of fear and rejection to our community,” said the People’s Matrix Association in a statement posted to its Facebook page on April 29. “Kabelo deserved to live. Kabelo deserved dignity, safety, and the freedom to exist without fear, just like every Mosotho.”
The LGBTQ rights group also said it is demanding action, justice, and protection from the government, especially given the fact authorities have arrested a suspect.
“We strongly condemn this act of violence and call on the government of Lesotho and law enforcement authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and ensure that those responsible are held fully accountable,” said the People’s Matrix Association. “We also urge leaders and the public to reflect on the role of hate speech and social stigma, which continue to incite violence against LGBTI individuals across our country. We demand action.”
Victor Mukasa of Trans and History Intersex Africa also condemned Seseli’s murder.
“Death is a fact of life, but murder is criminal,” said Mukasa. “Murder of people because they are LGBTIQA+ or for belonging to a particular social group is a hate crime.”
Thato Motsieloa, a gay crossdresser and LGBTQ activist, said he was “deeply distraught to learn about the brutal murder of Kabelo Seseli.” Motsieloa said he and Seseli met on Facebook.
“Although we never met in person, we had plans to do so,” said Motsieloa. “The manner of his death is particularly heartbreaking, and the fact that his killers desecrated his body by removing his private parts is utterly heinous. I hope justice is served, and those responsible face the consequences of their horrific actions. My sincerest condolences go out to Kabelo’s family, may his soul rest in eternal peace.”
Lesotho in 2012 decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations. Marriage, however, remains limited to heterosexual couples. There have also been sporadic reports of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes since 2012.
The International Commission of Jurists, in partnership with Outright International, a New York-based LGBTQ advocacy group, in 2022 held a workshop with the Lesotho judiciary that focused on human rights for the LGBTQ community.
The judiciary noted LGBTQ people exist, but acknowledged there is no local jurisprudence on their rights, even though the country’s constitution guarantees the right to respect private and family life and freedom from discrimination.
Religious and cultural norms, like in many African countries, play a pivotal role in how society perceives the LGBTQ community. Many people in Lesotho disregard the existence of LGBTQ people, even though the government is trying to make room for the acknowledgment of LGBTQ rights.
Outright International Africa Advocacy Officer Khanyo Farise says the judiciary’s active engagement with the LGBTQ community is an important step towards ensuring LGBTQ rights are upheld.
“Judges and judicial officers play an important part in ensuring access to justice for LGBTIQ+ people, but also have an important role in producing judgments which can advance their human rights,” said Farise.
ICJ Africa Communications and Legal Officer Mulesa Lumina said though the ICJ is encouraged by these developments, particularly the willingness of judiciary members to understand the plight of the community, LGBTQ people continue to face harassment, discrimination, abuse and violence because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.
“We will continue working with partners, such as the People’s Matrix and Outright International, to ensure the enforcement of the country’s obligations under international human rights law, which entitle LGBTIQ persons to the full range of human rights without discrimination,” said Lumina.
India
LGBTQ Kashmiri students targeted after terrorist attack
26 people killed in Baisaran Valley on April 22

Baisaran Valley, a Kashmiri meadow surrounded by pine trees, was bustling with Hindu tourists on April 22.
Families were wearing phirans (traditional Kashmiri clothing) for photos, while ponies trotted along the Lidder River. Gunfire shattered this peace when five terrorists opened fire. They targeted Hindu men, checking their religion before shooting them. The terrorists killed 26 people — 25 tourists, including a Navy officer who was on his honeymoon — and Syed Adil Hussain Shah, a pony guide who died protecting others. More than 20 others were wounded.
The Resistance Front, a Pakistan-based group tied to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist organization, initially claimed responsibility for the attack, but retracted the claim three days later, fearing India’s diplomatic and military response that eventually included the tightening of borders and the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.
The attack sparked outrage across India.
Misdirected anger targeted Kashmiri students in Dehradun, Jalandhar, and other cities in which LGBTQ people face heightened vulnerability. They endured harassment, evictions, and threats of violence. The J&K Students Association reported more than 1,000 distress calls, and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah urged states to protect them.
Activists across India have rallied to help LGBTQ Kashmiri students in their cities.
Harish Iyer, a prominent activist, offered shelter and legal assistance to them in Mumbai, the country’s financial hub.
“Religion is a tool used by terrorists worldwide to ensure that their victims divert their energy towards fighting each other while they continue to focus on our destruction,” said Iyer. “It is a tried and tested formula designed to divide us while we should all be united against them.”
Iyer told the Washington Blade he saw videos of Kashmiri students being targeted.
“Hate gets compounded when you look at it from several intersectional points,” he said. “To belong to identities like queer, Muslim, and Kashmiri makes one vulnerable. In a moment where hate reveals its fang, it is important that love opens its home too.”
Iyer said he received a couple of phone calls from queer people in northern India who had been attacked. He offered to pay for their travel to Mumbai or any other city, but they eventually told him they found a place where they would be safe.
“It just reinstates our collective faith in humanity and asserts that there are kind people everywhere,” said Iyer. “The community stands united with each other against terror.”
He stressed “intersectional realities make us most vulnerable” and “that’s why we need to rise up and be the best of who we are as queer humans.” Iyer told the Blade that other queer activists in India are trying to do just that, albeit silently, by opening their homes to people who have been targeted.
“Anish Gawande, the queer spokesperson of the Nationalist Congress Party, has been working hard to restore peace in the valley,” he noted. “He has been doing good work in the Kashmir Valley for several years now. I truly admire his courage and candor. But truly, it’s the everyday queer Indian who advocates for kindness who matter.”
“They would not be known to all and sundry, may not have a fan following or several followers on social media, but they have it in them to open their homes and their world to those affected,” added Iyer. “Sometimes, love doesn’t cause outpouring visibility, sometimes it silently protects and creates homes with a beating heart.”
Gawande has worked in Kashmir since 2012, running a program for Kashmiri journalism students and an art residency.
He acknowledged to the Blade the increase in violence against Kashmiri students. Gawande also said LGBTQ Kashmiri students face unique challenges because they are a “minority within a minority.”
“In these difficult times, several activists like Harish Iyer have come forward to offer their support to young Kashmiri LGBTQ students who are afraid for their own safety,” he said. “The intent of the terrorists was to divide us — we cannot let their strategy succeed. I am incredibly grateful to so many members of the queer community and allies who have stepped forward to help all Kashmiris in this difficult time.”
Gawande said he has been supporting the efforts of student leaders, including Nasir Khuehami of the J&K Students Association, who has been leading efforts to ensure Kashmiris across India remain safe and secure. Gawande also said government officials, politicians, and law enforcement are working to protect the students.
“I am grateful to both the central government and state governments across the country for their prompt assistance in this matter,” said Gawande. “In these difficult times, when emotions run high, we remain united against hate.”
“Today, attempts are being made to create divides between Indians and Kashmiris, between Hindus and muslims,” he added. “We must stand up against such attempts in one voice.”
Gawande last weekend traveled to Srinagar, the Kashmiri capital, and led multi-faith prayer services in temples, churches, gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship), and dargahs (shrines) “to mourn those who lost their lives in Pahalgam and to send out a message of communal harmony.”
“When attempts are being made to divide us on religious grounds, we must unite through religion,” he said.
Gawande also spoke directly to Kashmiri LGBTQ students, urging them to reach out to the J&K Students Association. He said his New Delhi home and his party’s offices across the country are “also available to those who need a safe space or a place to grieve.”
“In this time of grief, where we are all mourning the dastardly loss of life, it is important to stand up for what is right,” said Gawande. “Queerness has taught me that we have two kinds of families — those of birth and of choice.”
“Kashmir holds a special place in my heart, and when the well being of those who I consider family is under threat, there is no question of even thinking about any potential jeopardizing of my own safety,” he added.
The Vatican
Potential Pope Francis successor views homosexuality as an ‘abomination’
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu is archbishop of Kinshasa

One of the cardinals who is reportedly in the running to succeed Pope Francis has described homosexuality as an “abomination.”
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, the archbishop of Kinshasa in Congo, made the comment in a Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar statement in response to Francis’s 2023 decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples.
“Within the church family of God in Africa, this declaration has caused a shockwave, it has sown misconceptions and unrest in the minds of many lay faithful, consecrated persons, and even pastors and has aroused strong reactions,” wrote Ambongo in the Jan. 11, 2024, statement he signed. “The African Bishops’ Conferences emphasize that people with a homosexual tendency must be treated with respect and dignity, while reminding them that unions of persons of the same sex are contrary to the will of God and therefore cannot receive the blessing of the church.”
The statement notes several Biblical passages that “condemn homosexuality, notably Lv. 18:22-23 where homosexuality is explicitly prohibited and considered an abomination.”
“In addition to these biblical reasons, the cultural context in Africa, deeply rooted in the values of the natural law regarding marriage and family, further complicates the acceptance of unions of persons of the same sex, as they are seen as contradictory to cultural norms and intrinsically corrupt,” it reads.
Ambongo, who is president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, in 2024 said homosexuality “does not exist” in Africa outside of “a few isolated cases.” La Croix, a French Catholic newspaper, reported he made the comment during a rally that took place outside of Kinshasa.
Actualité, an online Congolese newspaper, reported Ambongo reiterated his opposition to homosexuality and same-sex unions in his 2023 Christmas message.
“Same-sex unions are not accepted in our church,” he said. “Although homosexuals should be treated with respect, compassion, and sensitivity, homosexuality remains a moral disorder contrary to natural law and our African culture.”
Jérémie Safari, executive director of Rainbow Sunrise Mapambazuko, a Congolese LGBTQ rights group, criticized Ambongo when he spoke with the Washington Blade.
“This cardinal is very homophobic; very, very homophobic,” said Safari.
Francis died on April 21.
The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under the Argentine-born pope’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.
Francis, among other things, described laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations as “unjust” and supported civil unions for gays and lesbians.
Francis last August met with two African activists — Clare Byarugaba of Chapter Four Uganda and Rightify Ghana Director Ebenezer Peegah — at the Vatican last August. Francis in 2023 visited Congo and South Sudan.
Juan Carlos Cruz, a GLAAD board member who survived clerical sex abuse in Chile, is among the hundreds of thousands of people who attended Francis’s funeral that took place at the Vatican on April 26. Transgender people were among those who greeted Francis’s coffin at Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica before his burial.
The conclave to select Francis’s successor will begin on May 7.
The Associated Press notes Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin; Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the former archbishop of Manila in the Philippines; Archbishop of Bologna (Italy) Cardinal Matteo Zuppi; and Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest (Hungary) Cardinal Peter Erdo are among those who are considered potential Francis successors.
“He [Erdo] has been reluctant to take positions on several of the government’s policies that divided society in Hungary, such as public campaigns that villainized migrants and refugees and laws that eroded the rights of LGBTQ+ communities,” said the AP.
New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based LGBTQ Catholic organization, in an April 21 statement said it hopes “our loving God, who is a God of justice and equality, will continue to bless us by extending Francis’ welcoming and inclusive message in the next papacy.”
Anti-LGBTQ Catholic figures offered a far different view.
Doug Mainwaring — described as a “marriage, family, and children’s rights activist” — on Monday described Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah as “the only conclave participant to counter LGBT ambiguity and lies of Francis pontificate” in a post that LifeSiteNews, an anti-LGBTQ Canadian Catholic website, published.
“There is just one cardinal about to enter the conclave who is crystal clear, fearless, and uncompromising with the truth when it comes to pastoring those of us who experience same-sex attraction and gender confusion: Cardinal Robert Sarah,” wrote Mainwaring.
Mainwaring also highlighted anti-LGBTQ comments that Sarah made in his 2019 book.
“I think that the first victims of the LGBT ideology are the persons who experience a homosexual orientation. They are led by its militants to reduce their whole identity to their sexual behavior,” Sarah wrote, according to Mainwaring. “I beg Catholics who are tempted by homosexuality not to let themselves be shut away in this prison of LGBT ideology. You are a child of God by baptism! Your place is in the church, like all Christians. And if sometimes the spiritual combat becomes too hard, fraternal charity will support you.”
Catholic League President Bill Donohue on April 22 urged the cardinals to consider an African counterpart to succeed Francis.
“If the cardinals decide to choose someone who is a traditionalist, they can do no better than to look to Africa. It is home to the most brilliant orthodox clergy in the world,” said Donohue. “If the cardinals want to choose someone more like Francis, they will look to Europe.”
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