Who will become the next pope? Leading candidates in an unpredictable competition

Who will become the next pope? This decision can have a deep impact on the Catholic Church and 1.4 billion baptized Roman Catholics in the world.

It also promises to be very unpredictable and open for many reasons.

The Cardinals College will meet in a conclave in the Sistine chapel to discuss, and then vote for its preferred candidates until one name prevails.

Of the 80% of the cardinals appointed by Pope Francis, they not only choose the Pope for the first time, but also offer a broad global perspective.

For the first time in history, less than half of their voting will be European.

And although his college may prevail, they were not exclusively “progressive” and “traditionalist”.

For these reasons, it is more difficult than if -no, predict who will be selected by the next Pope.

Can cardinals choose African or Asian pope, can they prefer one of the Vatican Administration?

Here is the choice of names that are referred to as the potential successor of Francis, and we expect that there will be more in the coming days.

Pietro Parolin

Nationality: Italian

Age: 70

The Italian Cardinal Pomeran said gently the Vatican Secretary of State under Pope Francis, which made him the chief advisor of the Pope. The Secretary of State also heads Roman chickens, the central administration of the church.

Speaking effectively the Pope’s deputy, he can be considered a leader.

Some see it as a more likely priority in diplomacy and a global forecast than the purity of the Catholic dogma. His critics consider this problem, while his supporters see strength.

But he was critical of the legalization of same -sex marriage around the world, calling a iconic vote of 2015 in favor In Ireland in the republic “defeat for humanity”.

Bookmakers can support it, but the Cardinal Poterin will know the old Italian language, which emphasizes the uncertainty of the Pope’s pruning process: “The one who enters the pope leaves it as a cardinal.”

About 213 of the previous 266 popes were Italian, and although there were no Italian Pope in 40 years, the turn of the church’s upper echelons from Italy and Europe may mean that it may not be yet.

Luis Antonio Goku Tagl

Nationality: Philippine

Age: 67

Can the next Pope go with Asia?

Cardinal Tagl has decades of pastoral experience – that is, he was an active leader of the church among people, unlike the Vatican diplomat or a closed church legislation expert.

The Church has a massive impact on the Philippines, where about 80% of the population is Catholic. Currently, there are record five members of the Cardinals College in the country – which can do a significant lobbying faction if they all returned the cardinal tag.

It is considered moderate in the Catholic definition, and it was called “Asian Francis” because of the devotion to the social issues and sympathy of the migrants, which he shared with the late Pope.

He opposed the rights of abortion, calling them a “form of murder” – a position in accordance with the wider position of the church that life begins with conception. He also opposed euthanasia.

But in 2015, when he was Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Tagl urged the Church to revise his “serious” position to gay, divorces and single mothers, saying that the past had a strong damage and left people who felt “brands” and that everyone deserved sympathy and respect.

The Cardinal was considered a candidate who was the Pope at the end of 2013, which was elected Francis.

He asked ten years ago, how he viewed the proposals that he could be on, he replied, “I am joking! It’s funny.”

Fridolin Ambongo Busung

Nationality: Congolese

Age: 65

It is very possible that the next Pope may be from Africa, where the Catholic Church continues to add millions of members. Cardinal Ambongo is a leading candidate, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

He was Archbishop Kinshasa for seven years and was appointed Cardinal Pope Francis.

He is a cultural conservative, resisting same -sex marriage, stating that “unions of the individual sex are considered controversial for cultural norms and essentially evil.”

Although Christianity is the majority of religion in the DRC, Christians are there, the death and persecution of the Islamic State of the Jihadist group and the related rebels. Against this background, Cardinal Ambong is regarded as a tough church supporter.

But in an interview with 2020, he spoke in favor of a religious set, saying: “Let the Protestants be Protestants, and Muslims Muslims. We will work with them. But everyone must keep their identity.”

Such comments can make some cardinals think if they perceive their sense of mission – in which Catholics hope to spread the word of the church around the world.

Peter Code APPEA TURKSAN

Nationality: Ghana

Age: 76

If its peers choose, the influential cardinal Turkson will also be the difference between being the first African Pope for 1500 years.

Like Cardinal Ambonga, he claimed he did not want the job. “I’m not sure that anyone is trying to become a Pope,” he said in the BBC in 2013.

Asked if there is a good case in Africa to provide the next pope based on the Church’s growth on the continent, he said he believes that the Pope should not be chosen based on statistics because “these types of opinions are usually muddy waters.”

He was the first Gan, who became Cardinal, back in 2003 under Pope John Paul II.

Like Cardinal Tagl, Cardinal Turkson was considered a potential Pope ten years later when Francis was elected. In fact, bookmakers made him a favorite voting.

Cardinal Turkson is a well -known guitarist who once played in a funk -beaten, known for his energetic presence.

Like many cardinals from Africa, it tilts to conservatives. However, he opposed gay criminalization in African countries, including his native Ghana.

In an interview with the BBC in 2023, while Ghana’s Parliament discussed the bill on the introduction of severe punishments on LGBTQ+ People, Turksan said he believes that homosexuality should not be considered as a offense.

Back in 2012, he was accused of scared of predictions about the distribution of Islam in Europe at the Vatican Conference of Bishops, for which he later apologized.