Pope Francis at 10 years: How the pontiff has shaped the selection of his successor

Pope Francis mArked 10 years as Pope Monday, capping a decade-long period of turmoil for the Catholic Church Francis is now a force to be reckoned with in the group that will elect his successor, as he continues his legacy as the 266th Pontiff.

Francis appointed 111 bishops in the College of Cardinals during his pontificate. This group of senior Catholic bishops is easily identifiable by their distinctive red outfits and has the responsibility of electing a pope upon resignation or death of the current pope. pope.

POPE FRANCIS AT THE AGE OF 10 YEARS: FIVE IMPORTANT MOMENTS FROM HIS PAPACY

The 10th anniversary of Francis’s accession into the papacy has prompted speculation about who might succeed him. Francis previously said that he had signed resignation letters which would only apply if he was to become incapacitated. The pope has recently however Discredited speculation He said that he would resign and, “The pope’s ministry is [for life].”

The pope has been very open about his health. Telling The Associated Press Earlier this year “I might die tomorrow, but it’s under control. I’m in good health.”

Francis can now be seen more clearly in a wheelchair after undergoing surgery to remove portions of his large intestine. He is the oldest living pope after Pope Leo XIII (who died in 1903 at the age of 93). Against this, Benedict XVI who lived to the ripe old age of 85, and John Paul I died at the ripe old age of 84, both resigned as pope.

Only cardinals aged under 80 can vote in secret papal elections that take place at the Sistine Chapel, Vatican. The election is called “a…” “conclave,” This is what it means “locked room” Latin To elect a new pope, you need to have a two-thirds supermajority. The College of Cardinals members who are likely to become the next pope have been nicknamed “papabile.”

Francis created a lasting legacy by filling the College of Cardinals ranks. This legacy will be most evident when the cardinals meet in order to elect his successor. Similar efforts were made by previous popes to restructure the college in order to influence the election of their successor. Paul VI, a famous pope, increased the number of college cardinals from 70 in 1970 to 120 and instituted the age cutoff. This was widely interpreted as an attempt to prevent the election of a pope who opposed reforms initiated by the Catholic Church in the Second Vatican Council and thereafter.

There are 223 cardinals at present, with 123 of them under 80. Pope Francis has appointed 81 out of the 123 eligible voters.

Here are some cardinals that could be papabile to become the 267th Pope.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin

Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, is frequently listed as a possible candidate to succeed Francis. Parolin’s election as Pope would be the continuation of a long tradition of Italian cardinals being elected to the papacy. It ended in 1978 when John Paul II was elected.

The 68-year old cardinal has been a member since decades of Vatican’s diplomatic corps. He was a diplomat under John Paul II and Benedict XVI before he was appointed secretary of state in 2013. As the pope’s chief diplomat, the cardinal has had many meetings with foreign leaders, and he often acts as an intermediary in diplomatic negotiations.

His tenure in the role of secretary of state was not without controversy. Parolin was criticized for his 2018 deal with China that allowed the Communist Party of China to select new bishops for the country’s largest population. The agreement has been criticized by Cardinal Joseph Zen, former archbishop from Hong Kong. “immoral.”

Cardinal Peter Turkson

After Benedict XVI’s resignation in 2013, the Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson was widely believed to be one of the leading contenders for the role of pope. However, the conclave elected Jorge Bergoglio (Argentinian), who assumed the name Francis.

Turkson, 74, is six years away still from losing his right to vote in the papal elections. He is currently the chancellor of Pontifical Academies of Sciences (the Vatican’s scientific research center). He was previously the archbishop for Cape Coast, Ghana and held many other positions at the Vatican.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

Former archbishop of Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, of the Philippines, would become the first pope of East Asia. Tagle, at 65, is one of our youngest members of the College of Cardinals.

Francis named Tagle in 2019 to head the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. It is the Vatican office responsible for overseeing the missionary work of the Catholic Church. Tagle was made the pro-prefect for the Section of Evangelization of the Dicastery for Evangelization after a reorganization of Vatican office.

Tagle is widely believed to be one of the more liberal bishops in the Catholic Church. Tagle has advocated for divorcing and remarried Catholics be admitted to communion. This practice has been banned since the church’s ban on divorce.

Cardinal Peter Erdo

Peter Erdo, Archbishop of Budapest, is one of the longest-tenured members of The College of Cardinals. He was elevated to this rank by Pope John Paul II in 2003.

Erdo will turn 70 in 2032 and can vote in the papal election. Erdo was the archbishop in Budapest during his tenure. He has gained a reputation as a conservative for his opposition of communion for divorced or remarried Catholics and his hard-line opposition for same-sex marriage and abortion.

Erdo claimed that European countries who accept refugees would engage in human trafficking in 2015 and made headlines.

Other candidates

Predicting the next pope is a difficult task. In recent years, several other cardinals of voting age were considered papabile, but the chances of them being elected diminish as they approach the age of 80.

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Older papabile candidates include the 77-year-old Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, who was known to have a close personal relationship with Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI; the 78-year-old Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Canada, who has been a close adviser of Francis; and Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, 78, who has served as the archbishop of Vienna since 1995.

There have been some speculations about the papabile status of two U.S. cardinals: Cardinal Timothy Dolan in New York (73), and Cardinal Sean O’Malley in Boston (78).