Two conservative Brazilian prelates were among the new Cardinals appointed last weekend.
Of those he mentioned, only one fellow conservative prelate, Bernard Cardinal Law of Boston, joined him in his harsh criticism of the paper.
When the Roman Curia, composed predominantly of conservative prelates, issued a list of nominees for the members of the Council's commissions, Liénart objected that nothing of the nominees' qualifications were included.
He confided to a fellow conservative prelate, Bishop Michael Browne of Galway, that the Holy Faith nuns "will do anything to aid a parish priest.
The archbishop, considered to be a conservative theologically, has led efforts to ease conflicts between theological scholars and the Catholic hierarchy, efforts sometimes pitting him against Vatican officials and other conservative prelates.
When Bishop Daily was head of the diocese at Palm Beach, Fla., the conservative prelate ordered the McBrien column dropped from the local Catholic paper.
But the Holy College elected Merry del Val a conservative young prelate, the first sign that Rampolla would not be the next Pope.
Miguel Cardinal Obando y Bravo, the conservative Roman Catholic prelate, read a letter aloud in church today that he said he had received in November from Mr. Bermudez.
The elevation of the conservative prelate appeared to cement the alliance between the church, the army and the landed gentry that had ruled this impoverished country for centuries.
In recent years, some conservative prelates, like Bishop Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn, have dropped the column.