When the newly elected Pope Francis greeted the crowd at St. Peter’s Basilica in 2013, he made fun of the cardinals’ efforts to find a new pontiff in his native Argentina, which they had done in 2013.
Indeed, the conclave had been searching for a powerful communicator who would boldly assume the leadership of a business that was plagued by sexual and financial scandals for a while after Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation.
However, according to Vatican analysts, voters are now looking for a sober and unifying figure who can piece together an institution that has been weakened by his revolutionary style and restore stability to the Church’s central government as 135 cardinals, those under the age of 80, gather for a new papal conclave following Francis’s death.
“Francis was chosen because he had avoided the chaos and reform,” Francis said. According to Andrea Gagliarducci, a Vatican analyst for the Catholic News Agency, the next pontiff must be someone who can calm things down.
attempting to be one.
In 2013, the objective was to shift the Church’s center of gravity from Europe to Latin America, which is a sign of the growing influence of Christians there, and restore order to the Holy See’s central government, the Curia, which had come to be viewed by many as corrupt and dysfunctional.
Pope Francis was not hesitant to accept the task. He dramatically altered the course of the Church during his papacy, upholding the Church’s teachings and inspiring controversy among reformers.
Many people were upset by his reforms, including allowing priests to bless same-sex couples (in some circumstances) and overhauling the Vatican’s bureaucracy. Tensions were sparked by his unpredictable governing style, which relied on a small group of confidants and weakened the authority of the Church’s central government.
Some of the more liberal-leaning voices were also perplexed by Francis’ changes, particularly those that concerned the Church’s role in same-sex marriage and the role of women in the Church.
The cardinals are persuaded to prioritize selecting a trustworthy individual who will not overthrow previous progress but who will not overstep any boundaries.
Massimo Franco, a political columnist for Corriere della Sera and author of eight books about the Vatican, said, “We must move toward a pope who finds unity in the diversity of the Church, maintains love for the poor, attention for the most marginalized, and who also rebuilds, rather than restores, the governing institutions of the Church.”
Names are starting to float around. Louis Antonio Tagle, 65, a progressive and close ally of Pope Francis, is a strong contender. The Filipino would become the first pontiff from Asia if chosen. Additionally, there is 72-year-old Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo, a traditionalist and theologian known for opposing Catholics who are divorced and for his anti-immigrant beliefs. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, 65, is renowned for his support for anticorruption initiatives and human rights.
The Vatican’s secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, 70, is regarded as the most recognizable name among Italians because he played a significant diplomatic role and played a pivotal role in Pope Francis’s administration. Prior to becoming the Vatican’s top official for Middle Eastern affairs, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 60, enjoyed a lot of respect there because of his expertise there.
Looking toward the South of the World
The choice has never been wider geographically. During his presidency, Francis appointed 80% of the cardinals who will attend the conclave, changing the way the clerical leadership is run by making it much more representative of the Global South.
The voting cardinals come from 65 nations, many of which are from Africa, Asia, South America, and Oceania, with Europe now accounting for 39% of the total, up from 52% in 2013. Additionally, fewer North Americans live there than they did before the election of Pope Francis.
Even though Europeans still make up the aproximate majority of the population, this means there will be more cardinals from the Global South than from Europe for the first time.
Cardinals from the Global South have a tendency to support Pope Francis’ efforts to end the conflict in Gaza and Ukraine, as well as social justice, migration, climate change, and climate change, even when that meant infuriating Western leaders who frequently expected the pontiff to take a more dovish stance toward Israel or a softer one toward Russia.
The pope criticised the US-Mexico border wall in one notable instance from US President Donald Trump’s first term, which included years of speeches from 2017 to 2021, saying that anyone who constructs walls instead of bridges was “not Christian.” Trump responded back at the time, calling it “disgraceful” that the pope had questioned his faith.
a more traditional view?
According to Marco Politi, a Vatican expert and author of the book Pope Francis Among the Wolves, the Church may benefit from the Global South’s increased presence at the conclave.
However, Francis’ appointment does not always mean that you agree with his goals in every way. When it comes to social and gender issues, Politi noted that some of the newly elected cardinals from the Global South are more conservative, particularly when it comes to the Church’s role in protecting the rights of women and homosexuals.
For instance, Francis’s proposal to allow priests to bless same-sex couples was opposed by DRC Cardinal Ambongo, who was elected cardinal in 2019. The pope was forced to dilate a landmark decision from 2023, which stipulated that blessings may only be given in circumstances not related to civil unions or weddings.
Another factor is that many of the cardinals are new, and at least 80 of them say it will be their first conclave and first encounter with the complexity of the Church’s central government, which is “intimidating” even for those who are already familiar. The Roman Catholic Church’s leader, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, told the BBC that he had anticipated the conclave would “pass me by” because he is only a few months away from turning 80. When he learned that the pope was seriously ill, he realized: “Oh Lord, this is going to happen to me.”
The pope wanted to appoint cardinals from far-off countries, but they may not understand how the Church functions as a global body that governs 1.4 billion people, according to Politi.
For the next nine days, the cardinals will meet twice daily inside the Vatican for pre-conclave meetings, though a date has not yet been determined for when they will be secretly elected inside the Sistine Chapel to choose the next pope.
Before the 2013 conclave, Jorge Mario Bergoglio delivered a speech that propelled him to fame at one of these congregazioni, as the meetings are known in Italian. He became Pope Francis a few days later.
Source: Aljazeera
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