While Pope Francis stays hospitalised with double pneumonia, many are asking who might lead the Vatican and Catholic Church in the long run.
The 88-year-old pontiff showed the onset of “bilateral pneumonia” – meaning it’s present in each his lungs – as his condition “continues to present a fancy picture”, the Vatican said after he was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital last week.
The Pope’s illness has seen events over the weekend cancelled and has solid uncertainty over the Holy Year too. His health concerns lately and his age have caused inquiries to be asked about his succession.
There are already numerous well-known cardinals whose names have been recommend to fill the role. In 2020, Edward Pentin released an authoritative book on the subject, titled: The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates.
Following the death of a pope, or in rare cases of resignation comparable to with Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican convenes a papal conclave, by which the College of Cardinals come together to elect the Church’s next head.
The rules of the conclave, as of twenty-two January 2025, stated there are 138 electors of the 252 cardinals. Only those under the age of 80 may participate in the key ballot within the Sistine Chapel.
Four rounds of voting would happen every single day until a candidate receives a serious two-thirds of the vote, in a process that typically lasts 15 to twenty days, per the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin
As the Vatican’s secretary of state since 2013, 70-year-old Parolin, from Veneto, is the highest-ranking cardinal within the electing conclave.
Rather than adhering to “left” or “right” political leanings, Parolin has long been considered a smart moderate figure inside the church.
Most recently, Parolin gave an interview with Italian newspaper L’Eco di Bergamo by which he commented on numerous geopolitical issues.
He said: “Everyone can contribute to peace, but solutions must not ever be pursued through unilateral impositions that risk trampling on the rights of entire peoples, otherwise, there won’t ever be a just and lasting peace.”
Cardinal Peter Erdö
As a former president of the Council of Bishops Conferences of Europe, Cardinal Erdö is thought for being a devout Marian, meaning he devotes his practices to Mary, mother of Jesus.
The 72-year-old Hungarian has famously been a more conservative voice inside the church, having opposed the practice of divorced or remarried Catholics receiving Holy Communion attributable to his belief within the insolubility of marriage.
He has also compared the act of taking in refugees to human trafficking. Erdö was made a cardinal in 2003 by Pope John Paul II.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle
As the seventh Filipino to grow to be a cardinal, Tagle can be the primary Asian pope. The 67-year-old currently serves because the pro-prefect for the section of first evangelisation of the dicastery for evangelisation, having been made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.
He has typically shown more left-leaning politics, much like Pope Francis, after he criticised the church’s attitude and language towards gay people, unwed moms, and divorced or remarried Catholics.
He said in 2015: “The harsh words that were used prior to now to discuss with gays and divorced and separated people, the unwed moms etc, prior to now they were quite severe. Many individuals who belonged to those groups were branded and that led to their isolation from the broader society.”
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi
Considered to be a favorite of Pope Francis, Cardinal Zuppi has been president of the Episcopal Conference of Italy since May 2022.
The 69-year-old was made a cardinal by Francis in 2019 and has since been sent on numerous global trips. He went on a peace mission to Ukraine where he met president Volodymyr Zelensky, but not Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and he went to the United States to satisfy then-president Joe Biden.
Prior to being a cardinal, Zuppi shared his more positive views of the LGBTQ community, as he wrote an essay in James Martin’s 2018 book, Building a Bridge, Un ponte da costruire that it was “useful for encouraging dialogue, in addition to reciprocal knowledge and understanding” for a recent pastoral approach with “our LGBT brothers and sisters”.
Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke
Regarded by critics as an outspoken traditionalist, Cardinal Burke, born in Wisconsin, was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.
He has publicly clashed with Pope Francis’s more liberal philosophies, particularly regarding his willingness to permit divorced and remarried couples to receive the Eucharist. He has also called the church’s recent language around artificial contraception, civil marriages and gay people “objectionable”.
He previously said that Catholic politicians who support legalised abortion, comparable to Mr Biden, shouldn’t receive the Eucharist.
