As the Vatican's College of Cardinals gathers next week to select a new pope, Father Gerald Murray of St. Joseph's Church in New York City told Newsmax that he expects it will pick someone with "a more traditional view of Catholic doctrine" than the late Pope Francis held.
"That's going to be the big challenge for the College of Cardinals," Murray said Wednesday on "Wake Up America." "My estimation is that they're going to return to a more John Paul II-, Benedict-style and substance of governance in the church. Pope Francis did many good things, but he also caused a lot of confusion, sad to say, by contradicting John Paul II and Benedict."
"You mentioned blessing of gay couples, giving communion to divorced and remarried [people]," he continued. "Pope Francis also declared the death penalty immoral, something which Pope Benedict had never done, neither John Paul II. So those are going to be the subjects of discussion at the general meetings of the cardinals, which will begin next Monday after the funeral. We're in that period now [where] we farewell and pray for the soul of one pope, and then we get ready for the next."
Francis, who was the Catholic's Church's first Latin American pope, died on Monday at 88 of a stroke and irreversible heart failure. He will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica for three days, beginning Wednesday, before being laid to rest after his funeral on Saturday.
Murray noted the large numbers of young people flocking back to the Catholic Church and said they're not looking for a progressive stance from the church but, rather, a return to tradition.
"The church of what's happening now, so to speak, taking its cue from not the gospel [but] the headlines — that's not what young people are interested in," he said. "They want prayer. They want worship. They want clear teaching, so they can make decisions in life. I think there's a real hunger. We live in a very transitory society. The media culture is ephemeral. Often everybody is saying, 'What really counts in life?' What really counts in life is God and then how we relate to him. One of the ways we relate to him is through solemn worship, and that's an area where a lot of people like the Latin Mass, for instance. Pope Francis really didn't. Pope Benedict did. So that's a question. Hopefully the Latin Mass will be restored to its proper place in the next pontificate."
Speculating on how the College of Cardinals might vote, the New York pastor said that "we could get an Italian again" because it's been some time since the church had an Italian pope, before pointing to the possibility of "an African cardinal" being elevated to the papacy.
"There are also surprise candidates that could come up," Murray said. "So they say, you handicap the cardinals going in, but no one expected John Paul II, and very few people expected Pope Francis."
GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch NEWSMAX today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now
BEST OFFER:
Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight's special series and President Trump's comedy programs and much more!
Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!
Start your FREE trial now: NewsmaxPlus.com
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.