Theodore McCarrick says an "influential Italian gentleman" asked him to "talk up Bergoglio."

Did the "mafia" puppet masters
influence the election of Pope Francis?

The first video clip after the break is taken from a 2013 speech at Villanova (starts at about 18:55 in the second video at the bottom of the page which is the complete talk at Villanova).

Keep in mind that the Cardinals in a papal conclave are strictly prohibited from lobbying for a pope. And yet, there's plenty of evidence that lobbying for Cardinal Bergoglio was organized and came from an anti-Benedict wing of cardinals calling themselves the "mafia club" under the name "St. Gallen" or "St. Gall." (They met at St. Gallen's in Switzerland.)

The "mafia" included Cardinal Danneels, Cardinal Kasper, Cardinal Martini (deceased), Cardinal Lehmann, Cardinal Silvestrini and Dutch Bishop Van Luyn. In an authorized biography of Cardinal Danneels, he was open about the secret meetings of the "mafia club" (Progressives love to brag!) although he later tried to backtrack. Why try to backtrack? Because lobbying for a pope can make his election illegitimate.