Death of Pope Francis opened the way for election of the new Pope and for far-reaching decisions about future directions of the Catholic Church.
All cardinals are now engaged in discussions on what these new needs and directions should be, but only 133 of them will vote for the new pontiff.
It should be noted, 108 of them were appointed by Pope Francis.
Francis often passed over prominent conservative bishops from mainstream Catholic countries in favor of unknown candidates from far away countries where Catholics are a minority.
Thus, the distribution of power in the Catholic Church shifted toward poor countries where Catholics are often persecuted. But this did not mean automatically that these new leaders will vote for Francis’s style of leadership.
Their vote depends partly on their assessment of his papacy.
The new pope will be chosen from among leaders of the Catholic Church.
The requirements include the intellectual leadership in areas of Catholic theology, qualities of charismatic pastor in evangelizing the faithful, social engagement of the church with the poor and marginalized, and skills as an able administrator of the Vatican state.
The general consensus seems to be developing that Pope Francis excelled in the area of social engagement of the church.
But, his biggest failing was his divisive theological positions sowing confusion in the church arousing dissent and opposition.
The dominant slogan for the upcoming conclave to restore church unity.
Cardinal Dziwisz, the former secretary to Pope John Paul II, revealed that when they arrived for the October 1978 conclave, he was asked to provide a detailed biography of the future pope.
Thus, they knew that he was one of the serious candidates.
So who are the papabili ("able to be pope'" or "pop(e)able").
It should be noted, papabili is an unofficial Italian term.
Right now biographical information of Papal candidates is being collected?
The most obvious one is Pietro Parolin who under Francis had the second most powerful position in the Catholic Church. He was akin to the Deputy Pope as well as the secretary of state. He was a powerful and skillful diplomat with global contacts and very experienced with Vatican bureaucracy – the Curia.
His most important achievement was reaching the 2018 secret agreement on the status of the Catholic Church with the Chinese government.
But he did not do it in a Catholic way.
Throughout its history, the Catholic Church insisted on its autonomy from the state.
In the 1950’s, Polish Primate Wyszynski was imprisoned because he would not allow the communist government to appoint Church officials. Parolin agreed to allow the Chinese government to approve of Church appointments.
This was always controversial but recently after the death of Pope Francis, the Chinese government went even further and appointed his own two bishops.
This severely damaged the credibility of Cardinal Parolin.
The third highest official in the Vatican was Cardinal Luis Tagle of Philippines.
He held a number of high level positions in the Vatican under Francis.
He was a prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization for global missionary efforts and the grand chancellor of the Pontifical University of Urbaniana, which educates future missionaries.
He is the closest to Francis in personal style, putting great emphasis on evangelization and outreach to the poor.
He was a member of several other pivotal dicasteries, which makes him a Curia insider. He wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on the Second Vatican Council and is considered a theological reformer. Generally, he is regarded as the Asian Francis and would project Francis’s legacy forward.
The most prominent Catholic intellectual is Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea, a favored with European conservatives.
He is the author of numerous books and assumes rather traditional theological positions.
He's a strong advocate of liturgical reforms. In addition to his formidable intellect, he represents Africa where the growth of Catholicism is the greatest.
Further, this growth is occurring in the face of violent opposition from radical Islamists.
Even though liberal clerics appointed by Francis are an overwhelming majority of voting cardinals, the conservatives were reportedly able to put together a blocking minority of 45 cardinals, to prevent the election of another leader who might continue his most controversial theological positions.
They're probably unable to elect their own but could force an election of one of the compromise candidates who would satisfy both sides and maintain the unity of the church.
Cardinal Dziwisz revealed that in 1978 there was a standoff between two Italian cardinals and therefore members of the conclave turned to a compromise candidate: Karol Wojtyla.
Who are the current compromise candidates?
The most prominent is Pierbattista Pizzaballa, a Franciscan friar and a Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem., the first one to be elevated to the position of Cardinal.
He is a prominent scholar of the Bible, a charismatic evangelist. advocate for peace, and with a touch for the poor. He displayed diplomatic skills in a conflict-riven region.
Another prominent candidate is Peter Erdo, of Hungary.
An expert on the Catholic canon law and author of 25 books on the subject, he wrote his Ph.D. dissertation entirely in Latin.
To many, he represents theological clarity and pastoral wisdom.
He is theologically traditional with a charismatic personality and inspiring sermons.
He's a former president of the Council of the Bishop’s Conference of Europe, hosted the International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest in 2021, and has strong connections.
The College of Cardinals is gathering on May 7 to choose the candidate who will preserve the unity of the Church, provide leadership in theological, evangelical, and temporal matters, reform the Vatican Curia and face new challenges: a tall order indeed.
Dr. Lucja Swiatkowski Cannon is a senior research fellow at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. She HAS been a strategist, policy adviser, and project manager on democratic and economic reforms in Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and Central, South, and Southeast Asia for Deloitte & Touche Emerging Markets, Coopers & Lybrand, and others. She has also served as an adjunct scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Dr. Cannon has a B.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Columbia University where she was an International Fellow and IREX Scholar at Warsaw University, and the London School of Economics. Read more of Dr. Swiatkowski Cannon's reports — Here.
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