Vatican City: The names of the ‘papabili’, or potential papal candidates, have gained traction in the media amidst Pope Francis’s recent health concerns and a significant shift in the conclave’s geographic composition, which he has altered during his 12-year leadership. This change has opened the conclave to new and rapidly growing areas of Catholic worship.
According to Ansa News Agency, the leading papabili currently include Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, Archbishop of Bologna and president of the Italian bishops’ conference Matteo Zuppi, who also serves as a Ukraine envoy, the Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Hungarian Peter Erdo, France’s Jean-Marc Aveline, Dutchman Willem J. Eijk, Filipino Luis Tagle representing the rising Asian Church, Congolese Fridolin Ambongo Besungu highlighting the booming African sector, and Brazilian Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, Archbishop of Manaus, reflecting the growing interest in Latin America, which produced its first pontiff in Pope Francis from Argentina.
A total of 135 cardinals will participate in the conclave, with 108 appointed by Francis, 22 by his German predecessor Benedict XVI, and five by the previous Polish pope John Paul II. Among those appointed by Francis is Germany’s Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, noted as one of his most vocal critics. Other opponents of Francis’s liberal approach include several African bishops where discussions on homosexuality remain taboo, alongside a number of conservative American cardinals.
Under Francis, the college of cardinals has become less Eurocentric, diminishing the traditional Italian and Western dominance, and demonstrating a broader focus on the Church’s global ‘frontier churches’. The cardinals are distributed across continents with 59 from Europe (including 19 Italians), 37 from the Americas (comprising 16 from North America, four from Central America, and 17 from South America), 20 from Asia, 16 from Africa, and three from Oceania.
Observers note that the issues at stake in the upcoming conclave vote reflect a Church that is less focused on defending traditional privileges and more inclined towards addressing global challenges, such as poverty, inequality, and environmental protection. These priorities align with Pope Francis’s vision of attending to the “peripheries” of society, both physical and existential.
A significant consideration amid current global conflicts, as highlighted by Pope Francis’s description of a “third world war fought piecemeal,” is the Church’s relationship with politics in a rapidly evolving world. The youngest conclave member is Ukrainian Mykola Bycok, aged 45, while the oldest is Spaniard Carlos Osoro Sierra, who turns 80 on May 16 and may become ineligible to vote if the conclave extends beyond his birthday.
