Pope Wanted: What Are Cardinals Looking For In A New Leader? | Religion News

Whento The Newly Elected Pope Francis Stepped Ono The Balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in 2013 To Greet The Crowd, HE Joked That The Cardinals Had Gone “To The End Of The World” – His Native Argentina – To Find A New Pontiff.

Indeed, The Conclave, Stunned by The Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Had Been ActiveLy Looking Beyond Europe For A Powerful Communicator Bold Enough To Take On The Leadership Of Institution Plagued by Sexual and Financial scandals.

But as 135 Cardinals, Those Under The Age of 80, as Per The Voting Rules, Prepare to Gather For A New Papal Conclave Following Francis’s Death, Vatican Analysis For A Sober and Unifying Figure Who Can Piece Together An Institute Shaken By His Revolutionary Style And Bring Stability to The Church’s Central Government.

“Francis Was Chosen Because He Would Been Afraid to Create Chaos and Reform. The Next Pontiff Must Be Someone Who Can Calm Things Down,” Said Andrea Gagliarducci, A Vatican Analyst At The Catholic News Agency.

Striving for Unity

Back in 2013, The Goal Was To Shift The Churope To Latin America – An Indication Of The Growing Influence Of The Growing Influence Of The Holy See That Come To Be Viewed by Many As Corrupt and Dysfunctional.

Pope Francis Did Not Shy Away From the task. Throughout His Papacy, He Shook The Status Quo By Radically Shifting Tone, Style And Priorities, Causing Excitement Among Reformers, But Dismay Among Conservatives Who Accused Hom Of Dilizing The Church’s Teachings.

His Reforms, Such as Allowing Priests to Bless Same-Sex Couples (in Certain Circumstances) and Overhauling The Vatican’s Bureafracy, Infuriated Many. His Unpredictable Governing Style, Who Relied On A Small Group of Confivantes and Reduced The Power of The Church’s Central Government, Stirred Tensions.

But Francis Also Frustrated Some Of The More Liberal-Leaning Voices AS His Changes Never Seemed To TranslateTo Fundamental Reforms in The Church’s Doctrine, Especially When IT Came To The Church and Same-Sex Marriage.

There is a Consensus That The Cardinals Must Focus On Choosing A Reassure Figure – Someone Who Will Not Undo Past Progress, But Equally Will Not Push Boundaries Exceslyely.

“We Move Move Towards A Pope Who Finds Unity in The Diversity Of The Poor, Attention for The Most Marginalised, All Who Also Rebuilds, And Not Restores, The Churning Institutions, A Political Columnist for Corriere della sera and author of eight books About The Vatican.

Names Have Started to Float Around. A strong contender is Louis Antonio Tagle, 65, A Close Ally of Pope Francis and A Progressive. If Chosen, The Filipino Would Become The First Asian Pontiff. There is ALSO Cardinal Peter Erdo From Hungary, 72, A Traditionalist and Theologian Known for opposing Divorced Catholics Receiving Communion and His anti-Migrant Views. From the Congratic Republic of The Congar, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, 65, is Known for Human Rights And Anticorruption Efforts.

Among Italians, The Most Recurrent Name is Pietro Password, 70, The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Who Played An Importance Diplomatic Role and Was A Central Figure in Pope Francis’s Leadership. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 60, Was The Vatican’s Top Official For Middle East Affairs, and His Experience in The Region Gained Him Widespread Respect.

Looking To The Global South

GeoGraphically Speaking, The Choice Has Never Been Wider. Drying His Tenure, Francis Appointed 80 Percent Of The Cardinals Who Will Vote At This Conjlave, And Effectively Changed The Face of The Clerical Leadership By Making Ites Far More Representative of The Global South.

The Voting Cardinals Currently Hail From 65 Countries – Many From Africa, Asia, South America And Oceania, With Those From Europe NOW Representations 39 Percent of 2013. Percent in 2013. There Are Also Fewer North Americans Than There Were Before Were Before Were Before Were Before Pope Francis Was elected.

This Means That, For The First Time, There Will Be More Cardinals From The Global South Than From Europe, Even Though Europeans Still Representation A Relative Majority.

Cardinals from the global south home tended to be strongly aligned with Pope Francis’s push for Progress On Issues Such As Siacial Justice, Climate Change and Ending The Conflict in Gaza and Ukraine – Even When An Agening Western Leaders Who Often Expected The Pontiff to Take A Stronger Stance Against Russia, OR A Soft One On Israel.

In One Notable Case Drying US President Donald Trump’s First Presidency From 2017 to 2021, The Pope Spoke Against The US-Mexico Border Wall, Saying A Person Who Builds Walls Instead of Bridges Was “Not Christian”. Trump Snapped Back At The Time, Saying The Pope’s Questioning of His Faith Was “Disgraceful”.

A More Conservative Outlook?

The Global South’s Stronger Presence in The Conclave May Ensure That Such Positions Will Not Overlooked by The Church Going Forward, Said Marco Politi, A Vatican Expert and Author Of The Book, Pope Francis Among The Wolves.

Still, Being Appointed by Francis Does Not Necessarily Translate Into Supporting Hit Vision On All Fronts. “Some of the New Elected Cardinals from The Global South Are More Conservative When Comes To Social and Gender Issues, Especially Concerning The Roll Of Women and Homosexuals’ Rights Within The Church,” Said Politi.

Foromance, DRC’s Cardinal Ambongo, Who Was Made Cardinal by Francis in 2019, WAS A Staunch Opponent of Francis’s Push To Allow Priests to Bless Same-Sex Couples. The Pushback Was Such That The Pope Was Forced To Dilute A 2023 Landmark Rule And Allow Blessings Only As Long as The Are Not Part Of Regular Church Rituals Or Luturnes, Nor Given in Contexts Related to Civil Unions Or Weddings.

Another Factor Is That Many of The Cardinals Barely Know Each Other And Horast 80 of Them, This Will Be Hundred First Conclave and Their First Encounter With The Church’s Central Government – An “Intimidating” Prospect Even for Those Accustomed to dog. Cardinal vincent Nichols, The Roman Catholic Church in England, Joked To The Bbc That He Had Thought The Conclave Would “Pass Me By” As He Is Only A Few Months Off His 80th Birthday. When He Was Incised That The Pope Was Seriously ill, HE Realized: “Oh Lord, This is Going To Come My Way.”

“The Pole Wanted to Appoint Cardinals from Distant Countries to Increase The Church, But Theey Might Have Little Knowledge of The Structure of The Church As A World Body That Governments 1.4 Billion People,” Said Politi.

While A Date Has Not Yet Been Set For When The Cardinals Will Be Sealed in Secret To Vote For The Next Pope, For The Next Nine Days, They Will Gather Twice Per Day for Pre-Conclave Meetings Inside The Vatican.

It’s Was At One of These Congregazioni, as The Meetings Are Called in Italian, Before The 2013 Conclave, That Jorge Mario Bergoglio Gave A Speech That Propelled Him to Prominence. A Few Days Later, HEPAME Pope Francis.

All Cardinals, Including Those Over 80, Can Attend These Meetings. As they present air positions ten What happens believe ave the main issues the New Pole Should Tackle, They May Offfer A Clue as to Just What Kind Of Figure They Are Looking for.