Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, will participate in this year’s Bilderberg Conference, taking place in Turin, Italy today through Sunday, according to the official guest list of 131 participants.
Parolin’s attendance marks the first time a high-ranking Vatical official has taken part in the conferences, and may have something to do with the “culture of encounter” encouraged by Pope Francis.
The Pope stressed while receiving the Charlemagne Price on May 6th that ”today we urgently need to engage all the members of society in building ‘a culture which privileges dialogue as a form of encounter’ and in creating ‘a means for building consensus and agreement while seeking the goal of a just, responsive and inclusive society.’”
Parolin took part in the World Economic Forum in Davos last year where he delivered a speech on pontifical diplomacy. His participation in the Bilderberg conference comes on the heels of the May resignation of 34 Chilean bishops over a pedophile priest scandal.
Last year’s event in Chantilly, VA was focused on the Trump administration and “Why is populism growing?,” this year’s themes – most of which can be filed under “pleb management” include:
1. Populism in Europe
2. The inequality challenge
3. The future of work
4. Artificial intelligence
5. The U.S. before midterms
6. Free trade
7. U.S. world leadership
8. Russia
9. Quantum computing
10. Saudi Arabia and Iran
11. The “post-truth” world
12. Current events
In other words – why do Europeans care so much about their “borders, language and culture,” how to keep blaming Russia for said populism, what to do once AI and automation replace most jobs, and how to shape narratives in a “post-truth” world where nobody believes the MSM anymore.
And as we’ve been noting, Italy just took a major step towards populism after the country’s anti-immigrant League party formed a populist coalition with the 5-Star Party, while League leader Matteo Salvini stepped into his new job as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior last Friday – pledging to deport 500,000 illegal immigrants, eschew globalization, monitor mosques and reinvigorate the country’s Christian heritage.
