A Very Heterogeneous Conclave To Elect Pope Francis’ Successor
Geographical distribution of the 135 cardinals who will participate in the 2025 papal conclave. X/ @Rainmaker1973
April 22, 2025 Hour: 4:57 am
The 135 cardinals who will form the conclave lack a shared vision for the future of the Church.
Despite having been mostly appointed by Pope Francis, the 135 cardinals from 71 countries who will form the conclave to elect his successor are a heterogeneous group, unfamiliar with one another and lacking a shared vision for the future of the Church. This is expected to result in a deeply divided assembly when they gather in the Sistine Chapel.
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There are many differences compared to the conclave held twelve years ago to elect Jorge Bergoglio. One is the number of voting cardinals — those under the age of 80 on the day of the Pope’s resignation or death — which is significantly higher than in previous occasions. Another difference is the greater number of countries represented.
“The fact that the 135 electors come from 71 countries could carry weight in the conclave, since a candidate needs two-thirds of the votes to be elected. In 2013, that meant 77 votes. In the upcoming conclave, based on the current number of electors, it would be 91. As of today, 68 electors are from Europe and North America,” analyzes Irish journalist Gerard O’Connell.
“The fact that many of the cardinals don’t know each other well — except those who participated in the synod — could create some difficulties, so they will depend more on the ‘kingmakers,’ who are respected and influential cardinals, many of whom are over 80,” he added.
For Corriere della Sera analyst Massimo Franco, author of several books on the Vatican, the conclave that elected Bergoglio “began with a strong anti-Italian bias because it followed the resignation of Benedict XVI. If the unwritten rule back then was ‘NO to an Italian Pope,’ this time it may be ‘NO to a South American Pope,’ and we may very well see a return to a European Pope.”
“The conservative minority has been the most outspoken, but in reality, there is a broad, silent gray area that has obeyed out of loyalty, even though it has disapproved of many of Pope Francis’s actions,” he recalled.
“They come from 71 nations, and this is a problem because these are cardinals who don’t know each other, who come from peripheral realities — not just geographically, but also demographically and religiously.”
According to Franco, both the curial model and the Casa Santa Marta model (comprising the Pope and his close circle of collaborators) have failed, and therefore, “there will be a break with continuity.”
Meanwhile, Massimo Faggioli, professor of Church history at Villanova University in the United States, points out that unlike in 2013, “today there is no candidate who had already been considered in the previous conclave.”
“The current situation of division within the Church, regarding the Pope’s decisions, is similar to that of 2005. However, during Francis’s pontificate, opposition has emerged more sharply, including from cardinals and bishops, in a way that did not happen with Benedict XVI. A key difference is the international situation, which is now far more complicated and dangerous than in 2013, especially due to developments in the U.S. and their global impact.”
“There are several cardinals who have been highly critical of Francis on certain issues, but they’ve lost influence and voice in recent years. They have been cautious, but in the conclave, they may find support among those who are surprised and weary of a pontificate marked by so much novelty and turbulence,” he stresses.
Nonetheless, O’Connell believes that “most of them substantially share his vision and are committed to synodality. After speaking with many of the cardinals appointed by Francis, it is more likely that the electors will vote for a candidate who broadly shares his vision.”
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
