(AP) – Recruitment: Saint.
Job Description: Leads a powerful Catholic Church of 1.4 billion people.
Location: Vatican City.
Although there are no official candidates for the Pope, some Cardinals are considered “papavilles” or possess the traits necessary to become Pope. After St. John Paul II defeated the centuries of Italian pope in 1978, the field of candidates expanded considerably.
When the Cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel on May 7th and choose to succeed Latin America’s first Pope Francis, they are looking for a saint who can lead the Catholic Church more than anything. Beyond that, they weigh his administrative and pastoral experiences and consider what the church needs today.
Here are the possible candidate selections, but in no particular order. The list is updated as Cardinals continue pre-discussions of closed doors.
Cardinal of Pietro Parolin
Date of birth: January 17, 1955
Nationality: Italian
Position: Vatican Secretary of State under Francis
Experience: Veteran Vatican Diplomat
Cardinal as: Francis
The 70-year-old veteran diplomat was Francis’ Secretary of State and essentially the prime minister of St. Shee.
Although closely linked to Francis’ Pope, Parolin succumbs to his personality and diplomacy in his approach to lead than the Argentine Jesuits he served, knowing where the Catholic Church needs course revisions.
Parolyn oversaw Sai’s controversial deal with China over bishop’s nominations and was not involved in the Vatican’s failed investment in London’s real estate venture that led to another cardinal and nine cardinals and nine people’s 2021 trials. Parolin, a former Venezuela ambassador, is well aware of the Latin American church and played a key role in the 2014 Vatican-promoted Cuba Dentente, USA.
If he was elected, he returned the Italians to the Pope after three consecutive outsiders: St. John Paul II (Poland), Pope Benedict XVI (Germany), Francis (Argentina).
However, Parolin has little idyllic experience. He entered seminary at the age of 14, four years after his father died in a car accident. After his ordination in 1980, he spent two years as a parish priest near his hometown in northern Italy, but went to Rome to study and participate in the diplomatic service of the Vatican. He works at Vatican Embassies in Nigeria, Mexico and Venezuela.
He is widely respected for his diplomatic finesse for some of the most troublesome parties facing the Catholic Church. He has been involved in the Chinese file for a long time, and he played a practical role in Saint Shi’s diplomatic reconciliation with Vietnam, resulting in an agreement to establish the country’s resident Vatican representative.
Parolin was also a point person for the Vatican in his frustrating efforts to end wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. He tried to hear the church as the Trump administration began working to end the Russian war in Ukraine.
“We hope we can reach peace that must be solid, lasting and just peace.
Parolyn may find a geopolitical reality that the Trump administration somewhat disapproves of the soft power of the sacred Sea.
– Nicole Winfield, Vatican City
Cardinal of Luis Antonio Tagle
Date of birth: June 21, 1957
Nationality: Philippines
Position: diCastery for evangelization under Francis
Experience: Former Archbishop of Manila, Philippines
Made by Cardinal by: Benedict
The 67-year-old Tagle is on many bookmakers’ lists, and is the first Asian Pope, an option to recognize a part of the world in which the church is growing.
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. Tagle often cites Chinese heritage. His maternal grandmother was part of a Chinese family that moved to the Philippines.
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 is on the young side to be elected to the Pope.
Tags are known as excellent communicators and teachers. It is an important attribute of the Pope.
“The Pope will have to teach a lot. We have to stand up to the camera all the time, so that would be very desirable if there was a very desirable communicator Pope,” said Leo Ocampo, professor of theology at Santo Thomas University in Manila.
That said, Tagle’s tenure at Caritas is not without controversy, and some have questioned his management skills.
In 2022, Francis expelled Caritas’ management, including the demotion of Tagle. The Holy See said outside investigations discovered “real flaws” in management that affected staff morale at the Caritas office in Rome.
– Jim Gomez, Nicole Winfield, Vatican City, Manila, Philippines
Fridrin Cardinal Ambongo Besungu
Date of birth: January 24, 1960
Nationality: Congo
Position: Archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo
Experience: President of the Bishops’ Conference of Africa and Madagascar
Cardinal as: Francis
The 65-year-old Ambongo is one of Africa’s most outspoken Catholic leaders and leads an archdiocese with the largest number of Catholics on the continent, considered the future of the church.
He has been the Capital Archbishop of the Congo since 2018 and has served as a cardinal since 2019. Francis has also appointed a group of advisors who have supported the reorganization of the Vatican bureaucracy.
Throughout Congo and across Africa, Ambongo is deeply committed to Catholic orthodox and is considered a conservative.
In 2024 he signed a statement on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference of Africa and Madagascar, refusing to follow Francis’ declaration and allowing priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples, equivalent to continental opposition from the teachings of the Pope. responsible crystallized both the African Church’s line on LGBTQ+ outreach and the height of the Ambongo within the African hierarchy.
He has received praise from parts of the Congo for promoting inter-fiction tolerance, especially on a continent where religious divisions between Christians and Muslims are common.
“He’s because of the church’s openness to different cultures,” said Donatien Nscholl, executive director of the National Anglican Congress of Congo, who has worked with Ambongo for a long time.
A straightforward government commentator, Cardinal is also known for his unwavering advocacy for social justice.
In countries with high levels of poverty and hunger despite their richness, countries where fights by rebel groups have killed thousands and displaced millions in one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises, frequently criticising both government corruption and inaction, and criticising the exploitation of natural resources in foreign countries.
“The Congo is a plate that everyone eats except our people,” he said in a speech last year at Pontifical Antonian University.
Criticism of Ambongo’s authorities has elicited both public praise and legal scrutiny. Last year, prosecutors ordered a judicial investigation after denounced him “inflammatory actions” for his criticism of the government’s conflict over the eastern Congo.
– by Mark Bunchero of Dakar, Senegal
Matteo Zuppi Cardinal
Date of birth: October 11, 1955
Nationality: Italian
Current status: Archbishop of Bologna, Italy, President of the Conference of the Italian Bishops
Previous job: Auxiliary Bishop of Rome
Cardinal as: Francis
Zuppi, 69, appeared as a street priest in the image of Francis, who quickly promoted him in 2015.
He is closely associated with the Santéguidio community, a Rome-based Catholic charity that is influential under Francis, particularly in inter-fiction dialogue. 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.
He traveled to Kiev and Moscow after Ukrainian President Voldimia Zelenki gained the release of 19,000 Ukrainian children stolen from his family and appealed to the holy vision he brought to Russia during the war. The mission also took him to China and the United States.
After making him a cardinal, Francis reveals that he wants to be in charge of the Italian bishop. Like Francis, a sign of praise from the high priests known as the “street priests” – those who prioritize service to the poor, homeless people and refugees.
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.
In a sign of his progressive trend, Zuppi introduced the Italian version of Building a Bridge by the Rev. James Martin, an American Jesuit, to the need for churches to improve outreach to the LGBTQ+ community.
Zuppi writes that building a bridge with a community is “a challenging process and still unfolding.” He recognised that “doing nothing, on the other hand, causes a lot of suffering, leading to people feeling lonely and often adopting contrasting positions.”
Zuppi’s families also have strong institutional connections. His father worked for the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. His mother was the nie of Cardinal Carlo Confalonieri, dean of Cardinals University in the 1960s and 1970s.
– By Colleen Barry of Vatican City
Peter Cardinal Forest
Date of birth: June 25, 1952
Nationality: Hungary
Position: Archbishop of Esthergom Budapest, Hungary
Past Experience: Two-time elected head of the Umbrella Group of the European Bishops’ Conference
Cardinal created: John Paul
Known by his peers as a serious theologian, scholar and educator, Erdő, 72, is a leading conservative candidate. He served as Archbishop of Esthergom Budapest since 2002, and was cardinal the following year by John Paul. He joined two well in 2005 and 2013 for Benedict and Francis’ choices.
Erdő, a PhD in Theology and Canon Law, speaks six languages and is a supporter of doctrinal orthodoxy, defending the church’s position on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.
Eldo opposed the same-sex union and resisted the suggestion that Catholics who remarried after divorce could receive communion. He said in 2015 that divorced Catholics should only be allowed to receive communion if they continue to be sexually absent in their new marriage.
A traditional family structure advocate, he helped organize Francis’ 2014 and 2015 Vatican Conferences on Family.
From 2006 to 2016, ERD served as chairman of the Council of European Bishops’ Conference, promoting cooperation among European Catholic bishops and helping to address the contemporary challenges facing churches on the continent.
Carefully avoiding participating in Hungary’s often turbulent political life, Eldo has maintained close ties with the right populist government in the country that provides generous subsidies to the Christian church.
He was reluctant to take on some of the government’s policies that divided Hungarian society, including migrants and refugees that eroded the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, and public campaigns that exacerbated the law.
When hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers entered Europe in 2015 when they fled and deprived in the Middle East and Africa, Eldo stressed that the church had a Christian duty to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need, but had stopped defending the full cry of immigrants, one of Francis’ top priorities.
– By Justin Spike, Budapest, Hungary
Robert Prebust Cardinal
Date of birth: September 14, 1955
Nationality: America and Peru
Status: Governor of DiCastelly for Bishop. Chairman of the Latin American Pontificial Committee under Francis
Experience: Archbishop Chiclayo, Peru. Head of Augustine’s Religious Order
Cardinal as: Francis
Francis took the 69-year-old Prevost to the Vatican in 2023 and served as a powerful director for the office, which rejected bishop nominations from around the world, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. As a result, Prevost stands out to enter a conclave that other cardinals have very few.
But one strike against him is that, for a long time, there has been a taboo against the American pope, given the geopolitical power he is already equipped by the United States in secular territory. But Prevost, originally from Chicago, could be the first, as he was also a Peruvian citizen and lived in Peru for many years, initially as a missionary and then as an archbishop.
Prevost was also twice elected the predecessor general or top leader of the 13th century religious order founded by St. Augustine, the 13th century order, the religious order of Augustine. Francis obviously looked at him for years, returning from Augustine’s leadership to Peru in 2014, serving as administrator and later Archbishop of Chiclayo.
He stayed in that position and won Peruvian citizenship in 2015. Francis took him to Rome in 2023 and took over the presidency of the Latin America’s Pontifical Commission. In that work, he would have remained in regular contact with some of the world’s Catholic hierarchies, which still count the most Catholics.
Since his arrival in Rome, Prevost has kept his public profile low, but he is well known to counting men.
Importantly, he mainly sided one of the most revolutionary reforms Francis had made. In early 2025, Francis once again showed his respect by appointing Prebust to the ranks of the most senior Cardinals.
If his brother Cardinals do not want to commit to the Pope, which may be ruled for another 20 years, the youngster of Prevost’s comparison can count on him.
Rev. Fidel Purisaca Vigil, communications director for the old parish of Prevost in Ciclayo, remembers that every day the cardinal rose and said prayers, then had breakfast with fellow priests.
“No matter how many problems he has, he maintains good humor and joy,” Purisaca said in an email.
– Franklin Brisño in Lima, Peru and Nicole Winfield in Vatican City
Anders Arbolius Cardinal
Date of birth: September 24, 1949
Nationality: Swedish
Position: Bishop of Stockholm
Experience: Member of the contradictory Carmelite father. Longtime President of the Scandinavian Bishops’ Conference and later Vice President
Cardinal as: Francis
He leads a small Catholic parish, but 75-year-old Arborellius has been on several insider lists as a potential conservative camp pontiff.
He was a bishop of Stockholm and since 1998, a parish that covers mostly secular Sweden but primarily the entire Lutheran, and was cardinal in 2017 by Francis. It was the first time Sweden had a cardinal.
Arbolius was born in Switzerland and grew up as a Lutheran in Sweden, and converted to Catholicism at the age of 20. He was appointed priest ten years later. As a bishop of Stockholm, he became the country’s first ethnic Swedish bishop since the reforms centuries ago.
He holds a master’s degree in modern languages in English, Spanish and German in multiple languages. He also studied theology and philosophy in Bruges and Rome, Belgium.
Arbolius opposed the ordination of women as priests, but in 2017 it suggested that a university of women could be created to advise the Pope. He shared Francis’ welcoming approach to immigration, speaking in favor of “ecocide” or laws against serious environmental damage.
In 2021, Arborellius was one of two envoys sent by Francis to the German Archdiocese of Cologne, investigating errors by senior church officials dealing with past cases of sexual abuse.
Francis clearly liked him. At a 2022 meeting with editors of European Jesuit magazines, Francis praised Armorlius as a fearless supporter of dialogue and a model that others should follow.
“He’s not afraid of anything. He talks to everyone and doesn’t oppose anyone,” Francis said. “I believe that people like him can show you the right path to follow.”
However, Alborelius told Swedish broadcaster SVT that he had asked the late staff to be freed from cardinal duties and returned to a monastery in southern Sweden. He said it was “highly unlikely” that a Swedish like him would be elected to the Pope.
– by Geir Moulson of Berlin
Pierbattista Cardinal Pizza Rose
Date of birth: April 21, 1965
Nationality: Italian
Position: Latin head of Jerusalem
Experience: Members of Franciscan Order of Friars Minor
Cardinal as: Francis
At age 60, Pizzabara is on the younger side to become Pope, but he is a favorite of many Italian Vatican watchers who want to see the Italians reclaim the Pope after three non-Italians.
He worked in Jerusalem for over 30 years, and moved from his hometown of Italy to the city just a month after ordination. Pizzabara served as the Holy Land administrator for 12 years, and was responsible for all Catholic property in the area.
In 2016, Francis appointed Pizzabara to fill the vacant seat of Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch, representing Catholics in Israel, Cyprus, Jordan and Palestinian territory, and became official in 2020.
A fluent Hebrew speaker, Pizzabara translated various liturgical texts into the languages of the Israeli Catholic community. He gained favor in Israel after offering that the children were being held hostage in Gaza a week after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Approximately 251 people were accused, including dozens of children.
Earlier that year, ahead of Easter, Pizzabara warned in an interview with the Associated Press that the area’s two,000-year-old Christian community was increasing the attack.
Pizzabara traveled extensively through the area, helping to celebrate a special Christian Mass in Gaza last year. “I would like to say that every world is with you, as Christendom, not just all worlds, but all worlds are with you.
– by Melanie Ridman of Jerusalem
Cardinal Juan Jose Omera
Date of birth: April 21, 1946
Nationality: Spanish
Position: Archbishop of Barcelona, Spain
Experience: Zaire’s missionary, now known as the Congo. President of the Conference of the Spanish Bishops
Cardinal as: Francis
The 79-year-old archbishop of Barcelona, Spain, is opposed to hunger around the world and will continue Francis’ commitment to serving the churches to the poorest.
The turbulent turbulent turbulent in the Spanish Church, attempts to agree with the sexual abuse of that class could work against Omera. Omura is sometimes on the old side for the Pope.
Born in a village in the Aragon region of Spain, Omera was appointed in 1970 and became the archbishop of Barcelona in 2015. Francis made Omera a cardinal two years later and in 2023 he appointed him as adviser to his small group.
Omera, known for his own friendly personality, praised Francis for highlighting the joyful message of the Gospels.
Omera shares the social vision of Francis’ church. He currently works as a missionary work in Zaire, known as the Congo, and works in the Spanish Catholic Ngo Manos Unidas. In a 2022 letter entitled “The Battle Against Indifference,” Omera wrote that hunger for the poorest country is the result of unchecked capitalism. “Our goal is to transform established (economic) structures and correct the deep, growing gap between the rich and poor,” he writes.
But like Francis and other church leaders, Omera struggled to deal with the extremely painful history of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.
Omera’s term as president of the Spanish Anglican Congress from 2000 to 2024 coincided with the conflict with the Spanish government on the issue. Under Omera, the Spanish Church has conducted its own audit of sexual abuse, apologising to the victims and has since provided financial compensation to them. However, Omera has rejected the results of government voting data, which pointed to a much higher total of victims.
When asked by Spanish National Radio how she felt about being considered a candidate to replace Francis, Omera remained true to her reputation for humility and did not laugh at the possibilities.
“We have excellent cardinals who know how to helm the church. I’m not one of them,” he said. “Others will know how to take up the Pope’s legacy and move it forward.”
– Joseph Wilson of Barcelona, Spain
Cardinal of Reinhard Marx
Date of birth: September 21, 1953
Nationality: German
Position: Archbishop of Munich’s Trendy
Experience: Coordinator of the Vatican Economic Council. President of the German Bishops’ Conference. Chairman of the European Bishops’ Committee
Made by Cardinal by: Benedict
If Cardinals want to continue Francis’ unfinished business and select someone to tailor the Catholic Church to the needs of ordinary amateur Catholics, Marx, 71, can fit the bill.
Marx was one of Germany’s most prominent parishes since 2008, the Archbishop of Munich and Freys, and was cardinal in 2010 by Benedict. He was selected as a key advisor by Francis in 2013 and was appointed to lead a council overseeing the Vatican’s finances during reform and belt tightening.
The former head of the German Bishops’ Conference is a strong supporter of the process of dialogue in the German church that began in 2020 as a response to a clergyman’s sexual abuse scandal, and has contributed to many leaving the church. The reform process elicited opposition from conservatives and doubts from the Vatican.
In an extraordinary gesture of 2021, Marx offered to resign from mistreating the church’s “devastating” clergy abuse case, declaring that the scandal had led the church to a “dead end.” However, Francis quickly rejected the offer.
In 2022, reports of Marx’s archdiocese commissioned abuse over recent decades denounced Cardinal for his own treatment in two cases. Marx said he saw these cases “to learn from them,” but did not renew his offer to resign.
Marx said the church needs to do more to reach out to abuse the victims, and admitted that he himself “overlooks those affected.” He added, “I won’t be allowed.” He stressed the importance of moving forward with reform, saying that the church would not be able to keep up the abuse crisis “without really deep renewal.”
In a 2022 newspaper interview, Marx advocated relaxing the rules for singles. He argued that singles would not be completely abandoned, but said he saw a “question mark” about whether “should be considered a fundamental prerequisite for all priests.” That year, Marx also apologized for the church’s discrimination against gay people.
– by Geir Moulson of Berlin
Cardinal Robert Sarah
Date of birth: June 15, 1945
Nationality: Guinian
Position: Retirement
Experience: Governor of the Vatican Liturgy Office. Cor Unum, Head of the Vatican Charity Office; Director of the Vatican Mission Office; Archbishop of Conakry, Guinea
Created a Cardinal: Benedict XVI.
Sarah, 79, has become something of a conservative wing figure in the Cardinal, even if she could secure the votes she needs to become Pope. He was long considered the best hope for the African pope, but there was a rather epic dropout between him and Francis, which may have ruined the chances of winning the moderates.
When he was first made into a bishop at the age of 34 by John Paul in 1979, he was the youngest bishop in history. He led the Vatican charity firm Cor Unum, and later led the Liturgy office under Francis.
However, he clashed with Francis several times, but not as serious as in 2020 when he and Benedict co-authored a book advocating the “necessity” of continuous singles for Roman Catholic priests.
The book came out as Francis weighed and considered whether to allow a priest married in the Amazon to address the shortage there. Sarah manipulated Benedict to lend the name and moral authority of the retired Pope to a book that had all the appearance of being a counterweight to the Pope’s own teachings.
The outlook for a retired Pope trying to influence the current Pope was a nightmare scenario in 2013 when Cannon’s lawyers and theologians warned when Benedict retired, chose to hold the Pope’s white cassock and call himself “Pope Benedict XVI.” Eventually, Benedict removed his name from a future edition of the book, but the episode exacerbated tensions between conservatives and Francis.
Sarah claimed he acted in good faith, denying that he was loyal to Francis and manipulated Benedict. However, Francis then rejected Benedict’s secretary and after a few months Sarah retired as the liturgical chief of the Vatican. Even Sarah’s supporters lamented that the episode would hurt his future Pope’s chances.
– Nicole Winfield, Vatican City
Cardinal Jean Marc Abelin
Date of birth: December 26, 1958
Nationality: French
Position: Archbishop of Marseille, France. President of the French Bishops’ Conference
Experience: Member of the Vatican Bishop’s Office. Members of the Vatican Office for Interreligious Dialogue
Cardinal as: Francis
Francis has complicated relationships with secular France and has never made an official state visit. His relationship with Abelin, the influential archbishop of Marseille, was much simpler and more sincere.
Abelin, 66, was a ally of Francis. He held the Pope in 2023 in the Mediterranean Port city on his second trip to France. At the time, Francis claimed he was traveling to Marseille, not France.
Abelin was elected head of the French Bishops’ Conference earlier this year.
Smiling, friendly and warm, Abelin is very in line with Francis’ ideals of caring for marginalized immigrants, especially immigrants. Born in Algeria, Abelin and his family moved to France after the former colony became independent, and he grew up in Marseille, a multicultural city with important Muslim communities. He is said to have a strong ability to interact with pagans.
A widely regarded as an intellectual, Abelin entered the seminary in Avignon, France after completing secondary school, and was appointed priest in 1984. He studied both philosophy and theology.
Avelin, considered a man of consensus, has been criticized by detractors who accused him of avoiding controversial issues such as the marriage of a priest. However, he recently called on the French Catholic Church to face responsibility for the issue of administrative abuse.
French media cites his relatively young age and the fact that he does not speak fluent Italian.
– By Samuel Petrekin of Paris
Cardinal Mark Ullett
Date of birth: June 8, 1944
Nationality: Canada
Position: Retirement
Experience: Head of the Vatican Office for Bishops. President of the Latin American Bible Committee. Archbishop of Quebec, Canada. Director of the Seminary School in Colombia. Members of the Sulpician Religious Order
Cardinal created: John Paul
Urett, 80, has long been on the list of many “Papaville” or Cardinals, who own the characteristics of the Pope, given his work as a familiarity with Vatican, pastoral experiences and Latin America, and his familiarity with Latin America, counting more Catholics than any other region.
But his chances may have been darkened after being accused of misconduct by a woman as part of a class action lawsuit in the Archdiocese of Quebec, Canada. Wellet vehemently denied the allegations, suing the woman for defamation, and Francis shelved the church investigation to him after he found that there was not enough element for church investigators to file a standard trial.
Wellet led the Vatican’s influential bishop’s office for over a decade and oversees the key clearing houses where potential candidates lead parishes around the world. Francis kept Wellett in work until 2023, despite Oolet being originally appointed by the more conservative Benedict.
Although Wellet himself is considered more conservative than Francis, he chose the bishop of the heart idly to reflect Francis’ belief that the bishop should “sniff like the sheep” of the flock. Wellett defended single priests for the Roman Catholic 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 been in good contact with Latin American churches and has led the Vatican Latin American Pope Commission for over a decade. In 2019, the Vatican bishop’s office began to take charge of investigating bishops accused of covering up predator priests.
– Nicole Winfield, Vatican City
Cardinal Christophe Schoenborn
Date of birth: January 22, 1945
Nationality: Austria
Position: Archbishop of Vienna
Experience: Catechism of the Catholic Church, compilation of the teachings of the Church. Members of the Dominican religious order
Cardinal created: John Paul
As 80-year-old Shaneborn was a Benedict student, there appears to be a chop on paper appealing 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.
He notices reporters taking reporters who are crowding the Cardinals each morning, arrive at pre-meetings and provides answers in a variety of languages depending on what journalists ask.
When asked what kind of pope would be chosen in Italian, Schoenborn recalled that Francis’ convention on the future of the church known as synod suggested continuity with Francis’ focus on churches in developing countries.
“It was clear during the meeting that weight and importance had shifted towards the ‘South’ – Africa, Asia and Latin America,” he said.
