Mario Delpini, Archbishop of Milan, reacted with a mixture of self-mockery and bitterness to the fact that he was not admitted to the College of Cardinals at the consistory of August 27th.

Delpini used a speech in Como Cathedral to settle accounts with Pope Francis.

There Delpini, on behalf of all the Lombard bishops, brought congratulations to Oscar Cantoni, Bishop of Como, who in turn had received the Cardinal's Biretta and Cardinal's Ring from the Pope.

The Diocese of Como has 530,000 souls, a tenth of the number of Catholic believers in the Archdiocese of Milan.

The ecclesiastical district of Milan is one of the largest and most prosperous in the world church, with more believers than the dioceses of Chicago and Los Angeles in the USA, Manila in the Philippines or São Paulo in Brazil.

Since the end of the 19th

Why Como and not Milan?

Matthias Rub

Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.

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Delpini said he was asked why the bishop of Como had been made a cardinal and not the archbishop of Milan.

In his view, the decision reflects "all the wisdom of the Holy Father," Delpini continued.

He himself could give at least three reasons for the choice.

Firstly, the Pope seems to have thought that the Archbishop of Milan already had enough on his plate – and instead made it clear to the Bishop of Como: You still have to do something.

The second reason is apparently that the Pope is convinced that the "bauscias" (roughly: braggarts) from Milan do not even know where Rome is, so it is better not to include them in the leadership of the universal Church.

Always for the underdogs

The third reason has to do with football, which is known to be the second religion of the Italians after Catholicism.

If he remembers correctly, the Pope is a fan of the River Plate Buenos Aires club "who have never won anything," as Delpini said.

That's why the pope gave the cardinal purple to a bishop from Como, a city with a second division club.

Because, on the other hand, "the masters come from Milan", Francis did not choose him, Delpini, but Cantoni from Como, the archbishop mused.

Because Cantoni is a fan of the underdogs, he is consistently "on the side of the weak and losers".

With the assignment of Pope Francis to the traditional club River Plate, Delpini was of course wrong.


It is naturally difficult to understand the actions of Pope Francis, who is known to belong to the Jesuit order, Delpini conceded.

And recalled the old saying that there are three questions to which even the Eternal Father has no answer: How many women's orders does the Church have?

How much money do you have?

What do the Jesuits think?

There was no official comment from the Archdiocese on Delpini's remarks, which were not appreciated by all the faithful.