revolves around? no. I don’t think that at all.

but I do know that roughly 28% of annual contributions come from the US, that the US is fourth on the list of ‘most Catholics’ by total numbers and the vatican would be pretty stupid to ignore those two points. and that is not even coming close to the question of corruption or doctrine.

Are they going to completely capitulate? probably not, but that doesn’t mean there’s no influence, either. Further, the vatican still opposes trans lifestyles doctrinaly, and Francis was the first pope to emphasize pastoral care over doctrine. It would not be difficult to imagine that conservative voices push back against that shift.

Thus I’m concerned that the next guy won’t be as supportive of trans as Francis was. Remember, Francis ruffled more than a few feathers with his progressiveness, not just american bishops (who are straight up assholes.)