Who Will Be the Next Pope? Here Are Some Possible Candidates to Succeed Francis.

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Guess about who will be the next novel Catholic Pope is inaccurate. Before the selection of Pope Francis in 2013, many betting runners had not only told among the main ones.

This time, the predictions are even more complicated because Francis made many quotes in a relatively short period of time, diversifying the power of cardinals and makes it difficult to identify movements and factions within the group.

Even so, the discussion of potential names begged a long time behind the walls of the Vatican, and the observers predict several possibilities.

It is likely that some are based on Francis’s progressive agenda, while others would represent a return to a more traditional style. Experts also suggest that the university could a prelate with experience in the complexities of international relations.

These are some of the contestants.

Pierbattista Pizza Balla

Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 60, an Italian who is the best Vatican official for the affairs of the Middle East, is considered a possible favorite. There became Cardinal only in 2023, his experience in one of the most heated conflict zones in the world helped him increase prominence.

Cardinal Pizzaballa would be the first Italian Pope since John Paul I in 1978, but experts say that he also considers an international and eliminated figure of the Vatican politics, after having spent much of his career in Jerusalem.

In general, he has also moved away from the controversies about the doctrine, that experts, according to experts, could help him ensure the necessary two -thirds majority in the Faculty of Cardinals, although some think it can be consulted too young for the role.

Pietro Parolin

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, has been the second in command of Pope Francis since 2013, when Francis made him secretary of state. In that role, the cardinal is in charge of supervising the internal affairs of the Church and guiding foreign policy.

An Italian and modern centrist with a soft voice, Cardinal Parolin is deeply familiar to the curia, the central administration of the Church, as well as the vast international Vatican network, which has served for approximately 20 years as a diplomat and under international relationship based on the relationship-basican-masticana-masticine based.

In fluency, English, French, Italian and Spanish, he has spoken in international conferences about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, climate change and human trafficking.

He is also an expert in Asia, and Vatican’s observers consider him the intellectual author of the progress that the Vatican has achieved in recent years to build relations with China and Vietnam.

Fridolin Ambongo

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, 65, the archbishop of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been considered a possible content since Francis made him a cardinal in 2019.

Pope Francis had long urged the Catholic Church to “go to the peripheries”, which means communities in Africa and Asia, where the Church is also the most vibrant. A persistent question has been when the Church could reinforce that commitment by choosing a Pope from Africa. Catholics represent about 18 percent of the population of the continent and generate more seminarians than any other part of the world.

Pope Francis, an Argentine, was the first non -European to lead the Church since 741. Even so, Francis was from a family with Italian roots.

However, there is a certain paradox involved in the choice of any successor in Africa. While it would be a rest of tradition, the Catholic hierarchy in Africa is among the most conservative.

Cardinal Ambongo has been close to Pope Francis, one of the nine members or an advisory group known as the Council of Cardinals. But the cardinal led the opposition to Francis’s decision 2023 that the Church should bless Gay couples.

Luis Antonio Tagle

Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, a liberal cardinal of the Philippines, whom the commentators have called the “Francisco Asian”, has considered that the Pope is the striker.

He was made Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 and would be the first Pope in Southeast Asia.

An ally of Francis, the tigle Cardinal often smiling goes through the nickname of “Chito”. His highly pleasant approach is in line with Francis’s attention to the poor already needed in developing countries, where he has lived and worked.

He accompanied Francis or helped prepare for his trips to Asia, including an exhausting 11 -day tour of Southeast Asia and the Pacific in the summer of 2024.

Cardinal Tagle was widely considered one of the most promising candidates in the 2013 conclave, but seemed too young for work at that time.

Cardinal Tagle has dealt with some of the most divisive problems of the Church, such as the inclusion of homosexual people and if to give communion to divorced Catholics and married again.

He served as president of the International Church meeting in the family in 2014, and of a general assembly on the same issue the following year, in which the tips agreed a more inclusive approach by the Church, although they opposed the marriage of the same ASX.

Matteo Zuppi

Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi of Italy, 69, stands out among the contestants who reflect Francisco’s opinion that the Church must be representative and support the poor.

Francis amounted to the Native Progressive of Rome to the Cardinal Rank in 2019 and assigned several important missions. Some experts speculate that Francis had probably favored him as his successor, although the Pope never weighed publicly on the matter.

Cardinal Zuppi is closely linked to Sant’Egidio, a Catholic community known for their service to the poor and conflict resolution.

Vatican’s observers say that the group became an increasingly important lobby under Francisco, and experts suspect that the cardinal’s lock to the powerful community could help him obtain votes. But that link has also raised concerns that, if he chose Pope, he would be influenced by the group.

In 2015, Francis appointed him Archbishop of Bologna, one of the most important publications in Italy. There, “Don Matteo”, as he is known, continued working with poor people and migrants. “Welcome to migrants is a historical challenge for Europe,” he said. “Christ invites us not to get away.”

And in recent years, Francis designated Cardinal Zuppi for the key role of the envoy for Ukraine affairs.

He also welcomes LGBT Catholics, writing the preface to the Italian edition of the 2017 book of Reverend James Martin, “Building to Bridge”, which asked the Church to find new pastoral forms of ministers for homosexual people.

Peter Erdo

Cardinal Peter Erdo or Hungary, 72, an expert in Canon Law, be a leader among the cardinals who yearn for a return to conservatism of the potatoes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

John II appointed the Archbishop of Clerico de Esztergom-Budapest in 2002, and the following year he gave him a cardinal hat, which made him 50, the youngest cardinal at that time.

Cardinal Erdo is considered a cunning diplomat, capable of building bridges with Catholics in Latin America and Africa and is good to reach other religious groups. He has often attended the commemorative monuments of the Holocaust, and Jewish leaders say that their support is crucial at a time of the emergence of the extreme right and the growing anti -Semitism in Hungary.

He is known for many of his western counterparts, since he has served from 2006 to 2016 as president of the Council of the European Conferences of Bishops. He has also written several books, and speaks or understands English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish, giving him linguistic skill to serve a global flock.

There has been talk against allowing divorced Catholics to receive communion and against the participation of migrants.

In a 2019 interview to Robert Moynihan, the founder and editor of Inside The Vatican Magazine, Cardinal Erdo spoke of the need to “protect the flame” or the traditional Christian faith in an increasingly secular world.

Different arborelius

Archbishop Anders Arborelius of Stockholm, 75, who became Catholicism at age 20, is the first Catholic cardinal in Sweden.

Althegh Sweden was once predominantly Lutheran and now it is largely secular, it is one of the few European countries where the Roman Catholic Church has grown in recent years. Francis’s cardinal elevation in 2017, seen as another attempt to reach countries where Catholics represent a minority.

In a recent interview, Cardinal Arborelius said that the greatest challenges facing the Church were to build bridges in a polarized world, to give greater influence to women within the Church and help the family to transmit faith.

Hi, they also warned or political currents potentially divide the Church. “It can be a danger in some parts of the church that is divided into several issues,” he said. “We must not form parties within the Catholic Church. “

Cardinal Arborelius, who belongs to the Carmelite religious order, has expressed, as Francis, his support for migrants. But expressed opposition to the blessing of same -sex couples. In 2006, he said that a decision of the Swedish Lutheran Church to allow such blessings would make the dialogue between him and the novel Catholic Church difficult.