VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the architect of the Vatican-China deal and a major supporter of Pope Francis’ crackdown on the Latin Mass and promotion of Holy Communion for adulterers, declared that Catholics “must welcome” Francis’ “legacy” and “make it part of our lives.”

Heterodox German Cardinal Walter Kasper, another major proponent of giving Holy Communion to people in adulterous relationships, similarly called for the next pope to follow in Francis’ “footsteps.”

“It is precisely the Father’s mercy, which is greater than our limitations and calculations, that characterized the magisterium of Pope Francis and his intense apostolic activity,” Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State under Pope Francis, said at a Mass on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square.

“Our affection for him, which is being manifested in this time, must not remain a mere emotion of the moment; we must welcome his legacy and make it part of our lives, opening ourselves to God’s mercy and also being merciful to one another,” the Italian prelate insisted in his homily.

“Mercy takes us back to the heart of faith. It reminds us that we do not have to interpret our relationship with God and our being Church according to human or worldly categories,” he continued. “Only mercy heals and creates a new world, putting out the fires of distrust, hatred and violence: this is the great teaching of Pope Francis.”

Kasper also recently remarked to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that “the People of God voted” at the funeral of Pope Francis and “invoked continuity with Francis.” “I am convinced that we must go ahead in the footsteps of Francis,” said the 92-year-old liberal cardinal, who is unable to vote in the conclave.

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Parolin and Kasper have been prominent supporters of Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’ controversial apostolic exhortation purporting to allow divorced and civilly “remarried” people to receive Holy Communion without living in chastity. Parolin has described the heterodox document as a “great gift for the Church” and part of Francis’ “new paradigm.”

Parolin is also known for overseeing the Vatican’s infamous China deal, first approved by Pope Francis in 2018, which allows the Chinese Communist government to appoint Catholic bishops and which is widely credited with exacerbating anti-Catholic persecution in the country. Cardinal Joseph Zen, the renowned former bishop of Hong Kong, has repeatedly slammed Parolin for his involvement in the deal, calling him “not a man of faith” and accusing him of “murdering the Church in China” and encouraging schism.

Parolin is additionally reported to have played a “key role” in the creation of Traditionis Custodes, Pope Francis’ document largely banning the Traditional Latin Mass, and reportedly pressed for even further restrictions. Moreover, the Italian prelate has praised Francis’ 2019 Abu Dhabi declaration, which claims that God “wills” false religions, and has distorted Catholic teaching on contraception.

Parolin, a career Vatican diplomat, is considered by some to be papabile, or a leading candidate for the papacy, despite his problematic background.

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While the prelate insisted that Pope Francis’ legacy centers on “mercy,” he neglected to note the late pope’s harsh treatment of his perceived enemies, such as Cardinal Raymond Burke and Bishop Joseph Strickland, and conservative and traditional Catholics generally, whom Francis accused of being “suicidal” and mentally imbalanced, among other things.

Parolin also failed to mention Pope Francis’ mishandling of numerous sexual abuses cases, including those of Fr. Marko Rupnik, Argentine Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, and others.

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