The Search for a New Pope: What Cardinals Are Looking for in a Leader
As the Catholic Church prepares for a new papal conclave following the death of Pope Francis, 135 cardinals under the age of 80 will gather to elect a new leader. According to a report by Al Jazeera, Vatican analysts say that the cardinals are now looking for a sober and unifying figure who can bring stability to the Church’s central government, which has been shaken by Pope Francis’s revolutionary style.
In 2013, when Pope Francis was elected, the cardinals had sought a powerful communicator who could take on the leadership of an institution plagued by sexual and financial scandals. As Al Jazeera reports, "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 an institution plagued by sexual and financial scandals." The cardinals had gone as far as Argentina to find a new pontiff, with Pope Francis being the first non-European pope in over 1,000 years.
However, as the Church has undergone significant changes under Pope Francis’s leadership, the cardinals are now seeking a different kind of leader. "Francis was chosen because he would not have been afraid to create chaos and reform," said Andrea Gagliarducci, a Vatican analyst at the Catholic News Agency, as quoted by Al Jazeera. "The next pontiff must be someone who can calm things down." The cardinals are looking for a reassuring figure who will not undo past progress but equally will not push boundaries excessively.
As Al Jazeera notes, "there is a consensus that the cardinals must focus on choosing a reassuring figure – someone who will not undo past progress, but equally will not push boundaries excessively." Massimo Franco, a political columnist for Corriere della Sera and author of eight books about the Vatican, told Al Jazeera that "we must move towards a pope who finds unity in the diversity of the Church, maintains love for the poor, attention for the most marginalised, but who also rebuilds, and not restores, the governing institutions of the Church."
Several names have started to float around as potential candidates for the papacy. Al Jazeera reports that a strong contender is Louis Antonio Tagle, 65, a close ally of Pope Francis and a progressive, who if chosen would become the first Asian pontiff. Other potential candidates include Cardinal Peter Erdo from Hungary, 72, a traditionalist and theologian known for opposing divorced Catholics receiving communion and his anti-migrant views, and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, 65, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known for his stance on human rights and anti-corruption efforts.
The cardinals will be voting from a diverse pool of candidates, with the College of Cardinals now being more representative of the Global South than ever before. According to Al Jazeera, "the voting cardinals currently hail from 65 countries – many from Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania, with those from Europe now representing 39 percent of the total, compared with 52 percent in 2013." This shift towards a more global Church is likely to have significant implications for the future direction of the Church.
As the cardinals gather for pre-conclave meetings, they will have the opportunity to present their positions on what they believe are the main issues the new pope should tackle. Al Jazeera reports that it 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, he became Pope Francis. As the cardinals look for a new leader, they will be seeking someone who can navigate the complexities of the Church’s central government and bring stability to the institution.
The cardinals will be sealed in secrecy inside the Sistine Chapel to vote for the next pope, with a date yet to be set. As they prepare for this momentous occasion, they will be acutely aware of the challenges facing the Church and the need for a leader who can bring unity and stability to the institution. As Al Jazeera notes, "the pope wanted to appoint cardinals from distant countries to increase the internationalisation of the Church, but they might have little knowledge of the structure of the Church as a world body that governs 1.4 billion people." The next pope will have to navigate these complexities and lead the Church into a new era.
The conclave will also see the participation of cardinals who barely know each other, with at least 80 of them attending for the first time. As Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, joked to the BBC, "I had thought the conclave would pass me by as I am only a few months off my 80th birthday." However, with the pope’s serious illness, he realised that "Oh Lord, this is going to come my way." The conclave will be a significant event in the Church’s history, and the cardinals will have to make a crucial decision that will impact the future of the institution.
In conclusion, the search for a new pope is a complex and challenging process that requires careful consideration of the Church’s needs and the qualities required of its leader. As Al Jazeera reports, the cardinals are seeking a sober and unifying figure who can bring stability to the Church’s central government and navigate the complexities of the institution. The next pope will have to be a leader who can bring unity and stability to the Church, while also addressing the challenges facing the institution in a rapidly changing world.
