A New Pope

Submitted by Levisek27 on April 21, 2025
Now because Pope Francis died, who do you think the next pope will be?
13 Comments
+5
Level 78
Apr 21, 2025
There are many papabile Popes. Will the next Pope be papabile? Who knows? JP2, whom I’m sure you’re familiar with ;), was not papabile, though his papacy was unmatched.

May the Holy Spirit send his Church exactly whom we need, and may Pope Francis be brought into union with Christ in heaven this very day.

+2
Level 78
Apr 21, 2025
More than anything, I’m curious how this will affect the canonization of Carlo Acutis. I imagine it will have to be postponed.
+2
Level 55
Apr 21, 2025
Maybe Poland will have another pope - Konrad Krajewski, for example? We'll see tho
+9
Level 79
Apr 21, 2025
as a protestant, Pope Francis was the best thing to happen to the Catholic church in living memory. RIP and I hope his replacement keeps the church heading in the same direction
+3
Level 47
Apr 21, 2025
The Vatican itself hasn’t officially split into two factions, but there is an ongoing and significant tension within the Catholic Church between traditionalists and progressives.

Traditionalists tend to view Pope Francis as too liberal or reform-minded.

Progressives advocate for a more inclusive, pastoral approach to LGBTQ+ people, the divorced, and others.

I think the Vatican will opt for traditionalists, based on today's conservative-leaning order.

+5
Level 78
Apr 22, 2025
I hope it’s the Filipino Cardinal.. He has taken a strong stance against child abuse in the Catholic Church, which is a chronic long-standing issue and who will hopefully deal with that. His name is Luis Antonio Tagle.
+3
Level 78
Apr 22, 2025
Pope Francis was one of the few voices in the world with the spine to keep speaking up.. and it’s heartbreaking to have lost him!
+1
Level 87
Apr 22, 2025
Tagle sold out Chinese Catholics, and all Catholics, big time with his deal kowtowing to the CCP's demand that they be allowed to appoint bishops, which is in flagrant violation of Church law.

Investiture by lay hands is not a contentious issue and its invalidity has been very, very, very well established for centuries. Allowing the Chinese Communist Party to appoint bishops (yes, I'm aware of the cope that the pope still has to "officially" agree and "officially" is the one who installs them -- in practice, only bishops the CCP approves of are allowed in China) is dangerous and wrong. Tagle was the major player in this deal, and he still defends it today, which is a huge slap in the face for Chinese Catholics who are persecuted or in hiding because they refuse the watered-down, CCP version of Catholicism which the government allows in favor of unity with the universal Church.

Cardinals Tagle and Parolin, 2 of the most likely candidates, both have abysmal records on China.

+2
Level 87
Apr 22, 2025
Parolin's famous remark in response to a question about persecuted Catholics in China really sums up the Curia's blindness, willful or otherwise, to the issue:

"But what persecution?"

I hope the next pope has the balls to stand up to the CCP and insist on liturgical validity and clerical independence from secular, national governments. Gregory VII has to be absolutely whirling in his grave, watching the Church bend over backwards to appease the communists.

+2
Level 78
Apr 23, 2025
Mindwax.. good to know. I didn’t know that Tagle had supported this..
+2
Level 78
Apr 23, 2025
They could just appoint one of the younger cardinals, since most of the cardinals are kind of superannuated, and could possibly be out of touch with most Catholics and people, in some ways.

One of the Indian cardinals is basically a teenager, by Vatican standards, a young 51 year old.

+2
Level 87
Apr 23, 2025
There are a ton of interesting options, this is going to be a fascinating conclave. I'm definitely not opposed to a Filipino pope! Maybe just not this particular one...

The Church is growing in developing regions and Francis made a lot of efforts to expand the college of cardinals out to include many bishops in historically less-included areas of the world. A pope from India, Africa, or the Philippines would be huge for those areas and an enormous pride-builder in those places' national identities, and national Catholic identities in particular. Whomever is chosen (even Tagle, even people I consider to be far worse options than Tagle) I pray that the Holy Spirit continues to guide the Church as it always has.

+2
Level 83
Apr 23, 2025
For entirely selfish and silly reasons, I’d love to see Italian Pierbattista Pizzaballa become pope and go by Pope Pizzaballa.