VATICAN CITY (RNS) — A various forged of cardinals gathering on the Vatican for Pope Francis’ funeral will quickly flip to voting for his successor as head of the Catholic Church. Just a few are thought-about doubtless candidates for the papacy, or “papabile” in Italian.
Due to Francis’ elevation of prelates from the “peripheries,” lots of the electors can have met solely this week, whereas those that work within the Curia, the Vatican’s forms, know one another and plenty of others in addition to. The journal Cardinalis and the web site Cardinal Report provide perception into each member of the School of Cardinals and the place they stand on sure points, however being recognizable might be a bonus on this conclave of strangers.
Among the components that cardinals search for in a pope by no means change: An impeccable background and powerful management expertise are a should, and candidates most probably have a mastery of languages and are well-traveled. However given their various backgrounds, not all cardinals’ priorities essentially align with Western issues.
Francis handpicked 80% of the cardinals who will vote on his successor, however it’s no assure the brand new pope might be like-minded: The conclave that elected Francis was stuffed with cardinals appointed by the relative conservatives Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II. Whereas some cardinals need to see Francis’ work continued, others need to set the clock again to earlier than Francis’ election in 2013. Nonetheless others will search a center floor.
Conservative possibility
Within the final months of Francis’ papacy, his detractors had been heard to say “By no means once more a Latin American. By no means once more a Jesuit,” a critique that noticed him as too progressive on theological points, together with LGBTQ points and girls, and too unaligned with Western European priorities. Catholic conservatives condemned his provisional settlement with the Individuals’s Republic of China, his restriction of the Latin Mass and his pragmatic method to Catholic doctrine.
Cardinal Peter Erdo, 72
The archbishop of Budapest, Hungary, and the previous head of the European Bishops’ Convention, Erdo has been a long-standing papal favourite. Made a cardinal in 2003 by Pope John Paul II, he occupied a number of influential positions within the Roman Curia beneath Francis, which makes him a flexible candidate able to navigating the issues of Europe and educated on Vatican affairs.
Cardinal Peter Erdo speaks throughout an interview with The Related Press, in Budapest, on April 20, 2023. (AP Picture/Denes Erdos)
The cardinal has a great relationship with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, a foremost determine within the conflict between East and West. Erdo has additionally cultivated relations with the doctrinally conservative Catholic hierarchy in Africa.
The media shy Erdo was endorsed by the late Cardinal George Pell, former financial system czar on the Vatican and an influential prelate in conservative circles, who described Erdo as “a great canon lawyer who I wish to see having the highest job sooner or later.”
Regardless of his conservative credentials, Erdo has additionally spoken in favor of migrants and promoted interreligious dialogue.
Cardinal Albert Ranjith, 77
Elevated by Benedict in 2010, Ranjith has led the bishops’ convention in Sri Lanka, has occupied influential positions on the Vatican and is fluent in 10 languages. In his nation he has been a outstanding voice for Catholics, with a give attention to younger individuals and the poor.
Cardinal Albert Ranjith. (Picture courtesy of Wikimedia/Artistic Commons)
Ideologically, Ranjith upholds conventional household values, orthodox Catholic doctrine and priestly celibacy. He opposed laws in his nation permitting same-sex marriages and in 2024 he banned ladies from serving on the altar, stating that it was a service meant to advertise vocations for younger males.
However from a social standpoint Ranjith has underlined the necessity to take care of the poor and the marginalized and urged believers to face up for social justice causes. He has been vital of capitalists and colonial attitudes towards the International South. Sri Lanka is a Buddhist majority nation with many Christians and Muslims cohabiting collectively, making Ranjith deft in navigating multicultural and interreligious relations.
Different doable candidates: Congolese Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu and Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni, grand grasp of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre and thought of an professional on the Center East.
A ‘transitional pope’
In a 2024 e book, a Spanish journalist quoted Francis reflecting on Pope Benedict XVI’s election, saying: “After the revolution of John Paul II, who was a dynamic, very energetic pontiff, who took the initiative, who travelled … We wanted a pope who might preserve a wholesome steadiness, a transitional pope.” After the disruptive management of Francis, some prelates would possibly search a milder candidate who can sign continuity with out too many surprises.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70
A diplomat at coronary heart, Parolin has traveled extensively and met with overseas dignitaries, ambassadors and world leaders. As Vatican secretary of state, he took an energetic position in finishing up Francis’ insurance policies and selections. He’s additionally extremely recognizable for all cardinals, since they met with Parolin throughout their necessary visits to the Vatican each 5 years. His election can be an indication the cardinals selected continuity.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin smiles throughout a gathering on the Bellevue palace in Berlin on June 29, 2021. (AP Picture/Michael Sohn, File)
Whereas in some ways a dream candidate, Parolin has suffered just a few pitfalls. Throughout Francis’ reforms of Vatican funds, his division was embroiled in a scandal that misplaced tens of millions of euros, leading to a trial of 10 Vatican officers and Italian businessmen and the stripping of Parolin’s workplace of its monetary property.
Some additionally view him negatively as a consequence of his energetic involvement within the drafting of a controversial and secretive cope with China on the ordination of bishops in 2018. Whereas Vatican diplomats and Francis praised the transfer as an essential overture towards the rising superpower, conservatives particularly believed it compromised the church’s skill to name out human rights violations within the nation.
Cardinal Anders Arborelius, 75
As bishop of Stockholm, Arborelius has had loads of expertise with representing the Catholic religion in a extremely secularized setting. The primary cardinal from Scandinavia, he has made participating with Protestants — Lutherans particularly — a key precedence. This makes Arborelius stand out in a time when the church in Europe is confronted with mounting challenges and struggles to seek out its identification whereas remaining true to doctrine.
Cardinal Anders Arborelius on the Vatican, June 28, 2017. (AP Picture/Alessandra Tarantino)
Whereas holding essential Vatican positions beneath Francis, he has promoted the reason for immigrants and refugees and advocated for defense of the setting. When German bishops pushed for progressive reform in 2023, Arborelius urged them to obey Rome. In sure dioceses in Sweden, he has allowed devoted to proceed practising the Latin Ceremony.
He speaks many languages and has proved able to overcoming the profound ruptures within the church, criticizing efforts to politicize the spiritual establishment. Most of all, Arborelius is a cardinal devoted to evangelizing in a world the place Catholics are more and more a minority, incomes him the respect of Francis and plenty of different prelates.
Different doable candidates: Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, 66, and Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, patriarch of Jerusalem, 60, who, regardless of his youth, has caught the eye of conservative and progressive cardinals alike for his advocacy for peace within the Center East.
Progressive favorites
For some cardinals, there isn’t a going again after the profound modifications and reforms that Francis ushered in. Lots of Francis’ picks for the cardinalate are energetic leaders with a eager understanding of synodality and its potential to alter energy buildings within the church. As populist conservative actions develop within the West, too, some prelates is perhaps in search of a pope wo can rise up in opposition to the rising nationalist tide.
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, 69
As head of the Italian Bishops’ Convention, Zuppi can depend on assist from the sizable Italian delegation on the conclave. He’s additionally carefully tied to the lay Catholic motion of St. Egidio and is thought for his spectacular pedigree in selling peace and dialogue in international conflicts, starting together with his work in Mozambique in 1992.
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi meets with Patriarch Kirill on the Patriarchal Residence in Danilov Monastery, in Moscow, June 29, 2023. (Picture by Moscow Patriarchate)
Zuppi’s profile as a peacemaker led Francis to faucet him as his peace envoy on the Ukraine conflict. Zuppi has employed his information of worldwide diplomacy to satisfy with U.S., Russian and Chinese language leaders, whereas arranging for the change of hostages, the respect of non secular freedom and offering charitable assist.
As archbishop of Bologna, Zuppi has emphasised the necessity to combine migrants and refugees into society, welcome members of the LGBTQ neighborhood and interact in interreligious dialogue. He might be a progressive selection for cardinals who need to see the papacy lengthen its position in worldwide battle decision.
Cardinal Luis Tagle, 67
Typically known as the “Asian Pope Francis,” the charismatic Filipino cardinal has been long-rumored as a favourite for the papacy. Not solely would he signify the rising affect of the church in Asia, however he might energize evangelization for the entire church: His time as archbishop of Manila has led to rising vocations and an energetic participation of youth in Catholic life.
Cardinal Luis Tagle smiles throughout a information convention on the Synod on the Vatican on Oct. 23, 2018. (AP Picture/Alessandra Tarantino)
But when the cardinal has the charisma, he apparently lacks administration expertise. In 2015, Francis tapped Tagle to guide the worldwide Catholic charity community Caritas earlier than he was forged apart in a 2022 restructuring. He was then appointed to supervise the Vatican division on evangelization, however he was as soon as once more demoted when it was restructured.
Regardless of this seesaw management, he has clearly additionally gained the sympathies of many in Rome. He shares Francis’ pastoral method to social questions, emphasizing a have to put human beings earlier than inflexible interpretations of doctrine.
Different doable candidates: Cardinal Mario Grech of Malta, 68, a key determine in Francis’ Synod on Synodality; Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, 72; Cardinal Robert Prevost from Chicago, 69, who headed the Vatican division overseeing bishops. Many contemplate the election of a pope from the Anglosphere unlikely, given the highly effective affect that the USA has on this planet in political phrases.
The darkish horse: Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, 61, the pope’s almoner, charged with shelling out the pontiff’s charitable initiatives. The Polish prelate is thought for having helped Italian transgender communities, restoring electrical energy to a constructing for the homeless that had been shut off and visiting mass graves in Ukraine.
All of those prelates, even when they aren’t elected, will nonetheless play a vital position as “kingmakers,” together with such proponents of constant Pope Francis’ imaginative and prescient as Cardinals Jean-Claude Hollerich, Timothy Radcliffe and Michael Czerny. Cardinals Raymond Burke and Gerhard Mueller will doubtless lead the conservative ranks.
