In one more week, on May 7th at 4:30 pm Italian time, the 133 cardinals qualified to participate in the conclave will be locked inside the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican for the first round of voting in search of the successor to Pope Francis and the new leader of the Catholic Church.
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The recent meetings of the College of Cardinals, following the funeral of the Argentine pope, have allowed some names to stand out above the rest as candidates.
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Pietro Parolin
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a 70-year-old Italian, is currently the only candidate known to the 133 cardinals who will participate in the election of the new Pope. Until recently, he held the position of Secretary of State, the second most influential position in the Vatican, responsible for the functioning of the central government of the Catholic Church.
Since the death of Francis, Parolin has been leading the sessions of the College of Cardinals due to the departure of Giovanni Battista Re and Leonardo Sandri, who have exceeded the age limit of 80 years and, therefore, cannot participate in the Conclave.
Parolin’s public exposure has increased considerably in recent days, and he was the one who presided over the Sunday Mass on April 27, a massive event that brought together about 250,000 people in St. Peter’s Square.
Appointed by Pope Francis himself as Secretary of State in 2013, his election was surprising because Parolin was a relatively unknown figure at the time, and was only 58 years old. Originally from northern Italy, in the region of Vicenza, he expressed his desire to become a priest from a young age.
According to an article from Clarin, Parolin has been described as a person with a calm character and great self-control. His pastoral life includes missions in Nigeria and Mexico, and his performance in the Secretariat of State led him to take charge of Italian affairs before being promoted to undersecretary.
Later, he assumed responsibility for the delicate relationship between the Vatican and China. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him apostolic nuncio in Venezuela, a designation interpreted by some as a strategy to distance him from direct management of relations with China.
During the funeral of Pope Francis, Parolin received the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and also the US President Donald Trump. Both leaders coincided in the Vatican and had a highly valued meeting.
John Paul I, Cardinal Albino Luciani, was the last Italian pontiff. His papacy lasted 33 days, and he passed away on September 29, 1978.
Luis Antonio Tagle
He was born in the town of Imus on June 21, 1957, and is currently 67 years old. He is known as “Chito” and “the cardinal of the people”.
He stood out for his work as the Archbishop Emeritus of Manila and currently stands out as the pro-prefect of the Section for the first evangelization and the new particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization.
Tagle’s relationship with Pope Francis was very close, showing the affinity of beliefs they both had, standing out for their defense of the poor and having a vision of a more open and close Catholic Church to the people, ideals they share in common and would promise to continue with the legacy of the Argentine pope. That is why Tagle has been nicknamed the “Asian Francis.”
Other candidates
Predicting the new pope is a very complicated process due to the secrecy with which the cardinals handle the internal politics of the Vatican. For example, Francis was not among the main candidates prior to the March 2013 conclave and therefore, according to the BBC, these names should also be considered as “papabili”:
- Fridolin Ambongo Besungu: originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is 65 years old. He has been Archbishop of Kinshasa for seven years and was appointed cardinal by Pope Francis. He is conservative and opposes blessings for same-sex marriages: “Same-sex unions are considered contradictory to cultural norms and inherently evil.”
- Robert Sarah: from Guinea, is 79 years old, and is one of the favorites of the conservative sectors of the Church due to his adherence to traditional doctrine and liturgy.
- Matteo Zuppi: 69-year-old Italian, is seen as one of the closest to Pope Francis, who named him a cardinal in 2019. He was the Vatican envoy when the war in Ukraine began after the Russian invasion.
- Peter Turkson: is 76 years old and is from Ghana. He was appointed cardinal by John Paul II. Like many African cardinals, he has a conservative inclination. However, he has spoken out against the criminalization of homosexual relationships.
- Peter Erdo: 72-year-old Hungarian. His conservative views on family have been well received by certain sectors of the Church and he has managed to navigate within Viktor Orban’s “illiberal” Hungarian government.