Who will be the next Pope? Senior candidates in an unpredictable competition

Who will be the next Pope? This decision can have a profound impact on the 1.4 billion Roman Catholic Church and Catholics.

It also promises to be an unexpected and very open process for a set of reasons.

The Cardro College at Conclave will meet in the Sistine chapel for discussion and then vote for its favorite candidates until one name will prevail.

With the presence of 80 % of the Cardinals appointed by Pope Francis himself, they only choose the Pope for the first time, but will present a wide global perspective.

For the first time in history, it will be less than half of those who got a European vote.

Although the college may be dominated by its dates, it was not “progressive” or “traditional” exclusively.

For these reasons, it is difficult to ever predict who the next Pope will be elected.

Can the Pen have to elect the African or Asian Pope, or can they prefer one of the ancient hands of the Vatican administration?

Below is a selection of names that are mentioned as a potential successor to Francis, and we expect to appear more in the coming days.

Petro Barolin

Nationality: Italian

Age: 70

Cardinal Cardinal Cardinal quietly was the state secretary in the Vatican under the leadership of Pope Francis – which made him the chief adviser to the Pope. The Foreign Minister also heads the Roman Korea, the central administration of the church.

After acting effectively as the Pope’s deputy, it can be considered flexible.

Some see it as more likely to give priority to global diplomacy and expectations from the purity of the Catholic faith. His critics consider that the problem, while his supporters see strength.

But he was criticizing the legalization of gay marriage around the world, describing the 2015 teacher vote in favor In the Republic of Ireland, “a defeat for humanity.”

Bachry makers may support him, but Cardinal Parolin will be well aware of an old Italian saying stressing uncertainty in the process of choosing the Pope: “Who enters to be the Pope, leaves him as a leader.”

About 213 out of 266 former Popes was Italian, and although there was no Italian door for 40 years, the church’s upper levels are far from Italy, and Europe may mean that there may be no other at the present time.

Luis Antonio Jokim Tajil

Nationality: Filipina

Age: 67

Can Cardinal become the first Asian Pope? Unlike Parolin, he has contracts for pastoral experience – this means that he was an active leader of the church among people instead of a diplomat for the Vatican or an expert in the church law.

The church has a great effect on the Philippines, where about 80 % of the population of Catholics. There are currently five members in the country in the Cardinate College – which can make a large pressure faction if they all return Cardinal Tag.

It is considered moderate in the Catholic definition, and it was called “Asian Francis” due to the dedication of social issues and sympathy with the immigrants he participated with the late Pope.

He opposed abortion rights, describing them as a “form of killing” – a position in line with the broader church’s position that life begins to become pregnant. It also spoke against compassionate murder.

But in 2015, when the Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal called on the Church’s penetration to reassess its “extreme” homosexual stance towards the gay, divorce and single mothers, saying that cruelty in the past had caused permanent harm and let people feel “signs”, and that everyone deserves sympathy and respect.

Cardinal was considered a candidate to be the Pope as much as it dates back to 2013 in which Francis was elected.

When he was asked a decade ago how to see the suggestions that could be after that, he answered: “I treat it like a joke! It is funny.”

Fridolin Ambongo Besungu

Nationality: Congolese

Age: 65

It is very likely that the next Pope from Africa, as the Catholic Church continues to add millions of members. Cardinal Ambongo is a pioneering candidate, descending from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

He was the Archbishop of Kinshasa for seven years, and he was appointed Cardinal by Pope Francis.

He is a cultural governor, who opposes gay marriage, saying that “the unions of the same sex are contradictory to cultural norms and evil in essence.”

Although Christianity is the majority of religion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Christians there faced death and persecution at the hands of the jihadist collective Islamic state and the rebels associated with it. On this background, Cardinal Ambongo is seen as a fierce advocate of the church.

But in an interview with 2020, he spoke in favor of religious pluralism, saying: “Let Protestants Protestants and Muslims be Muslims. We will work with them. But everyone should maintain their own identity.”

Such comments may lead to some Cardinals to ask whether they embrace their sense of task – as Catholics hope to spread the word church around the world.

Peter Kodo Apaya Trikson

Nationality: Ghanaian

Age: 76

If he was chosen by his peers, the influential carding will have a distinction that is distinguished by being the first African door in 1500 years.

Like Cardinal Ambongo, he claimed unwillingness to the job. “I am not sure if anyone aspires to become the Pope,” he told the BBC in 2013.

When asked whether Africa had a good issue to provide the next Pope based on the growth of the church on the continent, he said that he felt that the Pope should not be chosen based on statistics, because “these types of considerations tend to muddy water.”

The first Ghani became Kardinal, in 2003 under the leadership of Pope John Paul II.

Like Cardinal Talal, Cardinal Tuxon was a possible Pope after a decade, when Francis was chosen. In fact, it made it preferred before the vote.

The guitarist who once played in Fonk, Cardinal Trixon is known for his active existence.

Like many Cardinals from Africa, the governor tends. However, he opposed the criminalization of gay relations in African countries, including its homeland.

In an interview with the BBC in 2023, while Parliament in Ghana was discussing a bill that imposes harsh penalties on gay people, Trikson said he felt that homosexuality should not be dealt with as a crime.

In 2012, he was accused of making predictions of fear about the spread of Islam in Europe at the Vatican Bishops Conference, in which he apologized later.