In a conclave of strangers, cardinals are starting to get to know one another

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — In a College of Cardinals that is the most geographically diverse in centuries, name tags help, said cardinals gathering to begin the process of electing a successor to Pope Francis.

The cardinals who will be sequestered in a conclave beginning May 7 said the first step to reaching a consensus of two-thirds of the group is to get to know one another and learn where they stand on the future of the church.

Europeans remain the largest geographical group represented at this week’s general congregations, where cardinals are meeting ahead of the conclave, with Italians leading within the continent. The Americas, north and south, come second with 37 cardinals. According to the Vatican, 23 cardinals are Asian and 18 are from Africa. Four are from Oceania.

In this conclave of strangers there is a “plurality of opinions, convergences and differences,” said Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, a nonvoting prelate due to his age, on Tuesday (April 29).

At Tuesday’s sixth meeting of the general congregations, the cardinals who spoke to RNS said no names were raised as favorites to become the next pope, but those gathered have started to trace the qualities of who that man might be.

“There is a great discussion surrounding diversity,” Versaldi said, using a word that has been attached to the views of cardinals who wish to continue in Francis’ footsteps of an inclusive church. But Versaldi said this group doesn’t want to simply repeat what has been done before. “Those who look back are not reflecting the right spirit of the church,” he added.

Versaldi was echoed by Cardinal Ángel Sixto Rossi, the archbishop of Cordoba, Argentina, who told RNS that the next pope “doesn’t need to be the same as Pope Francis, but someone who has the courage to continue the journey (he) started,” he said.

That someone, the cardinals say, does not yet correspond to a particular individual. “We all agree on continuity, but we are missing the name and the style of the successor,” said Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez, the first cardinal from El Salvador and a close friend of St. Oscar Romero, who was killed 45 years ago after urging soldiers to defy the military government’s orders, which he said violated basic human rights.

Of the 183 cardinals present at Tuesday’s general congregations, 124 of whom were electors, about 20 cardinals addressed their fellow prelates, the Vatican announced.

The Vatican also announced that two unnamed cardinals will not take part in the conclave due to health issues. The meeting also coincided with the Vatican’s announcement that Cardinal Angelo Becciu, convicted for embezzlement and fraud by a Vatican criminal court in 2022, had decided to not take part in the conclave, removing a thorny issue that had weighed on the initial meetings.

Those absences put the number of cardinals who will vote at the conclave, who must be under the age of 80, at 133, and the number of votes a candidate needs to be elected pope at 89.

The meeting began with a reflection by the Rev. Donato Ogliari, abbot of St. Paul Outside the Walls, a papal basilica in Rome, who emphasized the need for Catholics to “distance themselves from arrogant, harsh and authoritarian attitudes” and instead foster “welcoming, compassion and availability toward forgiveness and service.”

Discussions surrounding “papabile” — a likely candidate to the papacy, in Italian — are buzzing in every bar, café and alley in the neighborhood around the Vatican. While some of the usual suspects continue to be mentioned, especially the Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a close adviser to Francis who is the Vatican’s secretary of state, some begin to wonder if the diverse cast of cardinals might not favor a surprise candidate.

Vatican prognosticators are not underestimating the impact that Asia and Africa, countries where the number of Catholic faithful is booming and vocations are growing, will have in this conclave.

“As Scripture says: Salvation will come from the East. We now see the East as a protagonist that teaches the old continent not to despair,” Versaldi said.

Leading candidates from Asia include Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle, a charismatic leader who is best known for his outreach to young people by every means possible — including karaoke. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith from Sri Lanka offers a conservative option for cardinals seeking an Asian pope who will put an emphasis on doctrine while maintaining Francis’ outreach toward migrants and his emphasis on the environment.

But Versaldi warned against paying too much heed to the “sure things” among the papabile, citing the Italian saying: “Those who enter the conclaves as pope often leave as cardinals.”