The death of Pope Francis on April 21, which shocked Catholics around the world, inevitably leads to the next stage: the appointment of a successor. AFP has identified 15 cardinals, including diplomats, theologians, mediators and Vatican officials, who could become the next leader of the Catholic Church.
It is emphasized that the list is not exhaustive and a person not included in it may be appointed as Francis' successor. Nine of the most potential candidates are Europeans, two each from Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Europe
Pietro Parolin (Italy), 70, Vatican Secretary of State.
Mr. Parolin is the head of Vatican diplomacy, or the Vatican's No. 2. He held this position for almost the entire duration of Francis' pontificate.
Pierbattista Pizzaballa (Italy), 60 years old, Jerusalem Latin patriarch.
Mr. Pizzaballa is the highest-ranking Catholic cleric in the Middle East. His archdiocese covers Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Cyprus. He was appointed cardinal in September 2023, just before the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Matteo Maria Zuppi (Italy), 69, Archbishop of Bologna.
Zuppi, a member of the Sant'Egidio community in Rome, served as a discreet Vatican diplomat for more than three decades, including as Pope Francis' special envoy for peace. in Ukraine Position: President of the Italian Bishops' Conference since 2022.
Claudio Gugerotti (Italy), 69, diplomat.
C. Gugerotti is a diplomat and polyglot from Verona, Italy, considered an expert on the Slavic world.
He served as nuncio, or ambassador of the Holy See, to several countries, including Britain, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Ukraine.
Jean-Marc Aveline (France), 66, Archbishop of Marseille.
Born in Algeria, JM Aveline spent most of his life in Marseille, considered a close friend of Pope Francis. In 2013, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Marseille and in 2022 became a cardinal.
Anders Arborelius (Sweden), 75, Bishop of Stockholm.
In 2017, Arborelius became Sweden's first cardinal. He is the first Catholic bishop in Sweden in more than 500 years since the start of the Protestant Reformation.
Mario Grech (Malta), 68, Bishop Emeritus of Gozo.
M. Grech is the general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, an institution that collects information from local churches on issues of particular importance to the Church, such as the situation of women or remarried people, and transmits it to the Pope.
Peter Erdo (Hungary), 72, Metropolitan Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest.
An intellectual and canon law scholar, Erdoğan speaks seven languages, has published more than 25 books and is known for his openness to other religions. He has previously drawn attention for his ties to the government of nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose hardline stance on migrants has clashed with Pope Francis.
Jean-Claude Hollerich, 67, Archbishop of Luxembourg.
JC Hollerich is a Jesuit, like Pope Francis. He spent more than 20 years in Japan and is a specialist in European-Asian cultural relations and German literature.
Asia
Luis Antonio Tagle (Philippines), 67, Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Manila.
LA Tagle, a charismatic moderate cleric who has not been afraid to criticize the Church for its shortcomings, including sexual abuse of minors, was among the likely candidates to become pope in the 2013 conclave that elected Francis.
Charles Maung Bo (Myanmar), 76, Archbishop of Yangon.
In 2015, Pope Francis appointed Maung Bo, head of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, as the first and so far only cardinal from Myanmar.
Africa
Peter Turkson (Ghana), 76, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Coast.
Turkson, one of the Church's most influential African cardinals, is chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. He is often mentioned as a possible first black pope, although he said in 2010 that he would not want to take the position because "it would be difficult" for such a pope.
Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (Democratic Republic of the Congo), 65, Archbishop of Kinshasa.
FA Besungu is the only cardinal from Africa on Pope Francis' Council of Cardinals, the pontiff's advisory committee.
As president of the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, in January 2024 the Archbishop expressed his opposition to the Vatican declaration allowing priests to give non-liturgical blessings to same-sex unions.
North America and South America
Robert Francis Prevost (JAV), 69 years old, Archbishop Bishop Emeritus of Chiclayo.
RF Prevot, a native of Chicago, is the prefect of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, which advises the pope on the appointment of new bishops. He spent many years as a missionary in Peru, where he is the Archbishop Emeritus of Chiclayo. He was made a cardinal in 2023 and also serves as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
Timothy Dolan (USA), 75, Archbishop of New York.
Dolan is a theological conservative who is fiercely anti-abortion. As archbishop of Milwaukee, he had to deal with the fallout from a major sexual abuse scandal in his diocese. He has built a growing Hispanic Catholic community in New York.
Justina Vaišvilaitė-Braziulienė (AFP)
