Beltway Insider: Pope Francis Funeral, Papal Choice, Ukraine/Russia, Nadine Menendez, George Santos

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Category: Beltway Insider

Published on Sunday, 27 April 2025 05:05

Written by Janet Walker

President Donald Trump, and First Lady Melania Trump, joined other dignitaries in Vatican City at the funeral of Pope Francis, where an estimated 250,000 citizens mourned the death of the whom many called the People's Pope.

The President's job approval rating, according to The New York Times for the period ending April 27, 2025,  shows an increase of 0.3% to 44% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as president decreased by 2% to 52%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

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Pope Francis Funeral

Under beautiful blue skies, the Italian sunlight radiated, a welcoming reminder to those in mourning of a bright hope and to put mourning aside, and remember the actions of Pope Francis, as he welcomed the least of those into his world.

Pope Francis, who died one day after Easter Sunday, and after delivering his final Easter blessing from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.

The 88 year-old pontiff planned his own funeral, from the simplicity of the zinc-lined casket to his simple working man black shoes, both symbolic gestures of what he had come to believe over his years of service. He reiterated his understanding by the biblical verses from Acts 10: 34-35, which reads, "Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right."

"The changes, official said, were meant to honor the wishes of the first Jesuit pope, who had taken a vow of poverty and aimed to make the proceedings seem more like the funeral of a pastor than a "sovereign" who had ruled the lofty Holy See. Before the closing of his coffin Friday night, Francis's well-worn black shoes peeked out from under the elegant ceremonial robes of a man who eschewed the finery of his office, including the red slippers of popes," reported The Washington Post.

Dignitaries in Attendance

A respected religious leader, the funeral of Pope Francis was the most well-attended funeral of any dignitary since the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022. With an estimate crowd size in Vatican City of 250,000, another 150,000 lined the Papel route to Pope's Francis' final resting place.

In addition to President Trump, and Frist Lady Melania Trump, former President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden were also in attendance. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as well as French President Emmanuel Macron attended. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also attended the service. Also attending were EU President Ursela von der Leyen, Germany Chancellor Olaf Schulz, and Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Buedenbender. Argentina's President Javier Milei also attended.

The crowed heads of Europe were also represented including Norway's Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg María Teresa Mestre Batista and Grand Duke of Luxembourg Henri and Spain's King Felipe and Queen Letizia. Also attending the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, India's President Droupadi Murmu, Hungary's President Tamas Sulyok and his wife Zsuzsanna Nagy and Finland's President Alexander Stubb.

Neither Russian President Valdimir Putin, nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended as each are facing international arrest warrants, and their attendance could have resulted in their arrests.

In a surprising show of religious solidarity, the world of religions also came together and were represented including those of the Buddhists faith, and leaders of the religions practiced in India including Hindu's, Sikhs, Jains, and leaders of Iran's Zoroastrians, and Methodists, Eastern Orthodox, of course Catholics, and the World Evangelical Alliances. Even those who had been estranged from religion, were welcomed by the pope and attended his funeral.

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Catholics Wait As Next Leader is Chosen

For many Catholics, the death of Pope Francis will usher in their first election, as the world waits to see whom will be elected the next pope. After the Pope's death, an official time of mourning begins, and somewhere between two to three weeks, the process of electing a new pope begins.

Even though there are 252 cardinals throughout the world only 135 are under the age of 80, which makes them eligible to vote in the upcoming process. The extremely secretive process, sequesters the cardinals inside the chapel and each voting member then writes a name of the man they believe embodies the characteristics that can lead the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, have exhibited a love of Jesus, as well as Christ like attributes, humility, servant of the poor, disenfranchised and oppressed.

After this process, the votes are tallied and burned. If no one receives a two-thirds majority, the process is repeated and continues to be repeated for three days. If after three days, a majority has not been reached, the cardinals are given a day of rest. The process than begins on the fourth day, cycling every three days. At the end of each day if a new pope has not been chosen, black smoke will be released. On the day the pope is chosen, white smoke is released from the chimney indicating to the world the wait is over, and a new pope has been elected.

Several names have already circulated including Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, and Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, with Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, 76, rounding out the top three choices touted by oddsmakers in Las Vegas.

"With the Catholic Church membership growing rapidly in Asia and Africa, there's speculation that it may want to lean into that growth and elect either Cardinal Tagle or Cardinal Turkson, which is why they are two of the favorites on our board," BetOnline political oddsmaker Paul Krishnamurty said. "Either winning the election would be historic given that the pope hasn't been of Asian or African descent for more than 1,000 years, and surprise political moves seem to be what sells these days," reported the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Russia Attacks Kiev

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an extensive missile attack on Kiev, Ukraine's capitol, which lasted nearly eleven hours, destroyed five neighborhoods, killed 12 and injured 90. The attack on the heels of a cease fire negotiation drew a rare rebuke from President Donald Trump, who explained to the dictator, the actions were counterproductive.

Russian Military General Killed by Car Bomb

In what Russian officials are calling retaliation, a car bomb exploded outside a Moscow apartment killing a high ranking Russian military general, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, as he was walking by the parked vehicle. Officials are investigating the death as murder and have blamed Ukraine. The vehicle was packed with explosives and rigged to detonate remotely.

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Trump Attempts to Negotiate Peace

Trump has even offered the Crimean Peninsula to Putin to sweeten the land for peace deal, citing, Crimean will stay with Russia as it has been with them for a long time.

The argument that Crimea has been with Russia for a longtime, a total of 11 years, does not translate to ownership. During World War II many European nations that fell to Hitler had great works of art stolen, and even after decades, the F.B.I. remains vigilant and many of those artworks have been found and returned. The repatriation of cultural artifacts from many of the world's most famous museums, even The Metropolitan Museum of Art, taken from ancient burial sites or acquired unjustly, have also become necessary to rectify historical injustices.

A land grab by Putin, does not equate to ownership and Crimea, which was recognized as the Ukraine sovereign territory, not only by Ukraine, but also by the world's governing bodies including the G7, which was once the G8, and Russia was suspended over the annexation.

The world's continual refusal to acknowledge Russia as the rightful leadership of Crimean, which was annexed by Russian military in a 2014, as Putin used the cover of the Sochi Olympics to build up the military presence, with the intent to violate the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine, by crossing the Crimean Peninsula, by a bridge that connects the two countries, in his first phase of retaking the entirety of Ukraine.

"Ukraine accepted a U.S. proposal for a full ceasefire in March, but Russia has not. The White House has since proposed increasingly generous terms for Russia, including U.S. recognition of Russian sovereignty in the strategic Crimean Peninsula. Zelensky has demanded a ceasefire before he will talk about concessions," reported The Washington Post.

Coronavirus Total

At the order of the President of the United States, the U.S. no longer recognizes the value of The World Health Organization. The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, annually.  The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from the newer variants.

For the seven days ending April 26, 2025, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by the World Health Organization increased by 12,824 to 777,704,325. The total worldwide death toll increased by 519 to 7,093,786 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated April 6, 2025, from the World Health Organization).

Nadine Menendez, Wife of Convicted Senator Bob Menendez, Found Guilty

Nadine Menendez, 58, wife of convicted New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez was found guilty this week, for her role in colluding with her husband, acting as his go between, arranging meetings, and collecting payment for those wishing to buy his influence in congress.

"It all boils down to a classic case of corruption on a massive scale, helping a politician put his power up for sale," Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Monteleoni argued in his summation Thursday, calling Menendez "someone who knows what she's doing is wrong and simply doesn't care … because she wants to get paid," reported The Washington Post.

In her dealings with the Egyptian officials, she had been given a low-show or no show job, and she and her husband benefited from the monies received, and at the time of the search of the primary resident along with gold bars, valued at that time at $60,000 each, there were envelopes of cash, amounting to $500,000 stuffed in closet, shoes, and throughout the home. She also received a Mercedez-Benz, and other incentives.

She will be sentenced on all 15 counts June 12, 2025.

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Former New York Representative George Santos, Sentenced to 87 Months

Former New York Representative George Santos, (R), 36, was sentenced this week to seven years in prison, after he was expelled from the house over egregious ethics violations and charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.  

U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert, of the Eastern District of New York, addressed the 36 year old convicted felon stating, "Where's the contrition?" "Where's the remorse?"

"Prosecutors outlined how he stole money, stole identities and spent money on vacations and designer clothes in their claims on why the former congressman deserved the full 87-month sentence. "He rose to one of the highest offices in the land on a wave of lies," said Assistant US Attorney Ryan Harris. He said Santos not only lied but it was the "extravagance along the way with his lies," CNN.com reported.

Santos is scheduled to being his prison term July 25, 2025, and is ordered to pay more than 500,000 in restitution.

For more information on President Donald Trump: Whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is completing the non-fiction narrative, "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," which is expected to be released in early 2025. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a former member of the International Federation of Journalists.