After finishing the days of mourning of Pope Francis in the Vatican, he now begins the regressive count for the conclave, the process or ceremony that will determine not only who will replace the Supreme Pontiff, but also designate the leader spiritual of millions of faithful and that will define the course that the Catholic Church will take and its incidence in global geopolitics.
The conclave that will begin on May 7, there are 133 the voters who will make up the election. It should be noted that it is a requirement to have no more than 80 years to participate in the vote and permancer in the Sistine Chapel. In fact, only 15 cardinals are under 60 years old, a group of 45 are between 60 and 70 years old and the majority (73) have between 71 and 80. The oldest is the Spanish Carlos Osoro Sierra, 79, That he is Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus in Madrid, while the youngest is the 45 -year -old Ukrainian Mykola Bychok who is bishop in Melbourne.
In 2013, there were 115 voters who chose Francisco, who needed a minimum of 77 votes to be chosen. Recall that the Vatican rule indicates that the pontiff is chosen with two thirds of the cardinals. This year, whoever becomes the Pope will need ten more votes, at least 87.
Where do they come from and who appointed the cardinals?
When reviewing this global meeting of Catholic representatives around the world, it is noted that the most represented continent is Europe, with 51 cardinals, followed by America, with 37; Asia, with 23; Africa, with 18, and Oceania, with four.
Despite this panorama dominated by the old continent, there will be greater diversity of origins because 12 countries will have representation in the conclave for the first time. These are: Haiti, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Sweden, Luxembourg, East Timor, Singapore, Paraguay, Sudan and Serbia.
Of the total, eight out of ten cardinals participating in the conclave were appointed by Francisco, that is 108while those designated by Benedict XVI remain 21, and those chosen by John Paul II still four.
But not for having been chosen by Francisco, it is thought that the latter are aligned to a more conservative perspective, and are far from the vision of the last papal about his way of seeing the Church. There are various currents among the cardinals, which can be classified as: diplomats, Americans, Italians, moderate, conservatives, and those closest to Francisco.
The candidate of the diplomats would be Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who is currently the Secretary of State of the Vatican and have been able to know his work for the positions they play in the Holy See.
Among the closest to the late Pope is Luis Antonio Tagle, known as the “Francisco Filipino”, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples and with positions very similar to those of Jorge Bergolio regarding homosexuals. This current also highlights Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, which was the Pope’s envoy to mediate the war in Ukraine.
By countries, Americans, who are 14, are divided and the figures that can excel are Timothy Dolan, New York archbishop, very active in social networks and against the immigration policy of Donald Trump, or the moderate Robert Francis Prevost, who was appointed by Francisco as responsible for bishops around the world and his commission for Latin America.
The Italians, who are 17, have a different vision each, but stands out to Zuppi, Parolin and Pizzabala Like those options for the papacy to return to the head of an Italian.
The moderates could support the Secretary General of the Synod, Mario Grech; Oa Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg and general rapporteur of the last synod on the synodality, or Cristóbal López Romero, archbishop of Rabat.
Instead, conservatives, who have criticized Francisco most, are divided among the most extreme, such as Robert Sarah, or American Leo Burke, or German Gehrard Ludwig Mueller, who would review the blessing of homosexual couples if it becomes a potato.
