Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
24-04-2025
VATICAN CITY: Who will be the next pope? The decision could have a profound impact on the Catholic Church and the world’s 1.4 billion baptized Roman Catholics.
It also promises to be a highly unpredictable and open process for a host of reasons.
The College of Cardinals will meet in conclave in the Sistine Chapel to debate and then vote for their preferred candidates until a single name prevails.
Here are some of the names being mentioned as Francis’s potential successor.
Pietro Parolin: Nationality, Italian, Age, 70
Softly spoken Italian Cardinal Parolin was the Vatican’s secretary of state under Pope Francis making him the pope’s chief adviser. The secretary of state also heads the Roman Curia, the Church’s central administration.
Having acted effectively as deputy pope, he could be considered a frontrunner.
He is viewed by some as more likely to prioritize diplomacy and a global outlook than the purity of Catholic dogma. His critics consider that a problem, while his supporters see a strength.
Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, Nationality, Filipino, Age, 67
Could the next pope come from Asia?
Cardinal Tagle has decades of pastoral experience, meaning he has been an active Church leader among the people as opposed to a diplomat for the Vatican or cloistered expert on Church law.
The Church is massively influential in the Philippines, where about 80% of the population is Catholic. The country currently has a record five members of the College of Cardinals which could make for a significant lobbying faction if they all back Cardinal Tagle.
Fridolin Ambongo Besungu: Nationality, Congolese, Age, 65
It’s very possible the next pope could be from Africa, where the Catholic Church continues to add millions of members. Cardinal Ambongo is a leading candidate, hailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
He has been Archbishop of Kinshasa for seven years, and was appointed cardinal by Pope Francis.
He is a cultural conservative, opposing blessings for same-sex marriage, stating that “unions of persons of the same sex are considered contradictory to cultural norms and intrinsically evil”.
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson: Nationality, Ghanaian, Age, 76
If chosen by his peers, the influential Cardinal Turkson would likewise have the distinction of being the first African pope for 1,500 years.
Like Cardinal Ambongo, he has claimed not to want the job. “I’m not sure whether anyone does aspire to become a pope,” he told media in 2013.
Asked if Africa had a good case to provide the next pope based on the Church’s growth on the continent, he said he felt the pope shouldn’t be chosen based on statistics, because “those types of considerations tend to muddy the waters”.
Peter Erdo: Nationality, Hungarian, Age, 72
A cardinal since the age of 51, Peter Erdo is highly regarded in the Church in Europe, having twice led the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences from 2006 to 2016.
He is well known among African cardinals and he has worked on Catholic relations with the Orthodox Church.
The archbishop of Budapest and primate of Hungary grew up in a Catholic family under communism, and he is considered a potential compromise candidate.
Erdo played a prominent role in Pope Francis’s two visits to Hungary in 2021 and 2023, and he was part of the conclaves that elected Francis and his predecessor Pope Benedict. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
