Vatican City (AP) – A popular proverb in Vatican circles is that “if you enter the Conclave as Pope, you leave as a cardinal.”
That means that the sacred and secret process is not a popular contest or campaign, but rather an election inspired by the sacredness of Christ’s pastors on Earth by the Church Prince.
Still, there is always a frontrunner known as “Papaville,” known as “Papaville,” just like the one depicted in last year’s Oscar-nominated film “Conclave.”
All baptized Catholic men are eligible, but since 1378 the Cardinals have been chosen. The winner must receive at least two-thirds of the votes from the Cardinals under the age of 80 and are therefore eligible to participate. Pope Francis, who passed away Monday, has appointed the majority of electors and often smacked men who share his idyllic priorities, suggesting continuity rather than rupture.
Anyone trying to handicap the results should remember that Jorge Mario Bergoglio was considered old to be elected Pope at age 76 in 2013, and that he was not on the frontrunner list that was in the 1978 Conclave, where Karol Voytira selected him in 1978.
Some possible candidates:
Cardinal Peter Eld
The Archbishop of Budapest and the Hungarian primate Eldo were elected head of the European Anglican Congress in 2005 and 2011, suggesting that they enjoy the respect of the European Cards, who make up the electoral’s biggest voting bloc. In that capacity, Eldo holds meetings and regular sessions of African bishops, which led him to know many African cardinals. Eldo helped Francis organize the Vatican Conferences in 2014 and 2015 on Family, giving important speeches during his visit to Budapest in 2021 and 2023.
Cardinal of Reinhard Marx
Archbishop of Munich and Marx (71) of Freeman was selected as key advisor by Francis in 2013. Marx was later appointed head of the council overseeing the Vatican finances during reform and governance. The former president of the German Bishops’ Conference was a strong supporter of the controversial “synodopath” process of dialogue in German churches that began in 2020 as a response to a clergyman sexual abuse scandal. As a result, he is seen in skepticism by conservatives who viewed the process as a threat to church unity, given that it involves discussing issues such as church unity, homosexuality, and the ordination of women. Marx made the headline in 2021 when he dramatically offered to resign as archbishop to atone the terrible abuse records of the German church, but Francis quickly refused to resign and told him to stay.
Cardinal Mark Ullett
Ouellet, 80, from Canada, has led the Vatican’s influential bishop’s office for over a decade and oversees the key clearing houses of potential candidates leading parishes around the world. Francis kept Ueretto in work until 2023, despite him being appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, and thus helped to choose more Bishop Doctorinare than the German Pope likes. Considered more conservative than Francis, Ouellet chose the bishop of the heart idly to reflect Francis’ belief that the bishop should “sniff like the sheep” of the flock. Ullett defended priests’ singles for the Latin ritual church and supported the ban on women’s ordination, but sought women to play a greater role in the governance of the church. He has had good contact with the Latin American Church and led the Vatican Latin American Clergy Committee for over a decade. Since 2019, his office has been responsible for investigating bishops accused of covering up predator priests.
Cardinal of Pietro Parolin
Parolyn, 70, from Italy, has been Francis’ Secretary of State since 2014 and is considered one of the leading candidates for the Pope, given his prominence in the Catholic class. The veteran diplomat oversaw a controversial contract with China over the nomination of the bishop of the Bible, and was not involved in the Vatican’s failed investment in London real estate ventures. Parolin, a former Venezuela ambassador, is well aware of Latin American churches. He will continue the Francis tradition, but will be seen as a more calm and sick diplomatic insider, and as a man who returns the Italians to the Pope after three consecutive outsiders: Saint John Paul II (Poland). Benedict (Germany) and Francis (Argentina). But while Parolin manages Vatican bureaucracy, he has no real idyllic experience. His connection to the London scandal, where his office lost tens of millions of dollars to bad deals and shady businessmen, could count on him.
Robert Prebust Cardinal
The idea of the American pope has long been a taboo given the geopolitical power already underway by the United States. But Prevost, a 69-year-old Chicago native, could be the first. He has extensive experience in Peru first as a missionary and then as an archbishop. He is currently the powerful Dicaster governor of the Vatican’s powerful bishops, responsible for hearing bishops’ appointments around the world. Francis obviously looked at him for years and sent him in 2014 to run the Parish of Chiclayo in Peru. Prevost is also the chairman of the Holy Commission in Latin America. This is the job he continues to regularly contact the Catholic class in some of the world where he still counts the most Catholics. In addition to his nationality, the youngster of Prevost’s comparison could count on him if he didn’t want to commit to the Pope, where his brother’s Cardinals might be ruled for another 20 years.
Cardinal Robert Sarah
Sarah (79), retired head of the Vatican Liturgy Office, has long been considered the best hope for the African Pope. Beloved by conservatives, Sarah will mark a return to liturgical fragrances to John Paul II and Benedict, who are heartfelt in doctrine and liturgical ways. Sarah, who previously headed the Vatican charity firm Cor Unum, has clashed with Francis several times. The book came out as Francis weighed or pondered whether a priest married in the Amazon would allow him to deal with the lack of priests there. The meaning was that Sarah manipulated Benedict to lend his name and moral authority to a book that had all the appearance of being a counterweight to Francis’ own teachings. Francis rejected Benedict’s secretary and retired Sarah after turning 75 a few months later. Even Sarah’s supporters lamented that the episode had hurt his Pope’s chances.
Cardinal Christophe Schoenborn
Schoenborn, 80, the Archbishop of Vienna in Austria, was a Benedictine student, so it appears that the paper has Doctrineer’s academic chops to appeal to conservatives. But he has come to be linked to one of Francis’ most controversial moves by defending the outreach to divorced and privately remarried Catholics as an “organic development of doctrine” rather than the rupture that some conservatives argued. Shaneborn’s parents divorced when he was a teenager, so the problem is personal. He also robbed the Vatican of fever when he criticized his past refusal to sanction high-ranking sexual abusers, including his predecessor as Vienna’s archbishop. Shaneborn expressed his support for private unions and women as a butler, and helped him edit the 1992 Catechism update of the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Lewis Tagle
The 67-year-old Philippine Tagle looks like the first Asian Pope Francis’ choice. Francis takes the archbishop of Manila to Rome and leads the Vatican missionary evangelization office. His role took on greater weight when Francis reformed the Vatican bureaucracy and increased the importance of the Evangelization Office. Tagle often quotes Chinese pedigree – his maternal grandmother was part of a Chinese family that moved to the Philippines – and he is known for getting emotional when discussing his childhood. He has experience in the pastoral, Vatican and management, but he led the Vatican’s Caritas International Charities Federation before coming to Rome forever – Tagle would be on the younger side to be elected Pope for life.
Matteo Zuppi Cardinal
Zuppi, 69-year-old Archbishop of Bologna and the chairman of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, elected in 2022, is closely affiliated with the Sant Teguidio Community, a Rome-based Catholic charity that influenced interfaith dialogue, particularly under Francis. Zuppi was part of Santegidio’s team, who helped negotiate the end of the Mozambique civil war in the 1990s and was selected as Francis’ peace envoy for the Russian war in Ukraine. Francis made him a cardinal in 2019, and later revealed that he wanted him to take charge of Italian bishop. In another indication of progressive trends and proximity to Francis, Zuppi introduced the Italian version of Building A Bridge by the Rev. James Martin of the Jesuits in America, about the need for churches to improve outreach to the LGBTQ+ community. Zuppi will be a candidate in Francis’ tradition of serving the people of Margin, although his relative youth will count him for the Cardinals seeking a short pope. His family had strong institutional relationships. Zuppi’s father worked for the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. His mother was Nie, the dean of Cardinal of Cardinal, Carlo Confalonieri, in the 1960s and 1970s.
