Pope Francis died on Monday, April 21, 2025, and the process of picking the Pope will soon begin.
Francis died at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta.
The College of Cardinals, which is the most senior officials in the Church, chose the new Pope. Francis
Pope Francis succeeded Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.
Here is a list of the top contenders to succeed Pope Francis.
Robert Sarah was born on 15 June 1945 (79 years old) in Ourous, Guinea.
He was ordained as a priest on 20 July 1969 in Conakry.
On 13 August 1979, he was appointed Archbishop of Conakry at the age of 34, making him the youngest bishop in the world and called “the baby bishop” by John Paul II.
He was consecrated on 8 December 1979.
On 1 October 2001, he was appointed secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed him president of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” in October 2010,
On 23 November 2014, he was nominated Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. He was Prefect of the Congregation until 20 February 2021.
He participated in the conclave of March 2013, which elected Pope Francis.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is 67 years old and hails from the Philippines.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed him to the College of Cardinals in 2012.
He became the youngest person to be made a cardinal and the seventh Filipino.
Besides, Tagle has served in the Dicastery for Evangelization since 2022.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Pietro Parolin is 70 years old and was born in Italy.
He currently serves as the Vatican’s Secretary of State.
He is also a member of the Council of Cardinal Advisors and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2014.
Parolin is in charge of overseeing political and diplomatic events of the Vatican City State and the Holy See.
Pope Francis picked him to engage in talks with different world leaders and groups, including Ukraine and the Taliban.
Cardinal Peter Erdő
Peter Erdő is 71 years old and comes from Hungary.
He is currently the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and Primate of Hungary.
Erdő is the former president of the Council of Bishops Conferences of Europe.
He was made a cardinal in 2003 by Pope John Paul II at the age of 51, making history as the youngest member of the College of Cardinals.
Other Contenders in Race to Succeed Pope Francis
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi
Matteo Zuppi is 69 years old, a citizen of Italy, and the President of the Italian Episcopal Conference.
He was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2019.
Besides, he has been in the Archbishop of Bologna since 2015.
Pope Francis appointed Zuppi as his special envoy to bring peace to Ukraine.
He met Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and former US President Joe Biden to deliver a letter from the pope.
Cardinal Mario Grech
Mario Grech is 67 years old and hails from Malta.
He is considered a potential moderate successor of Pope Francis.
Grech is the current secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, Mario Grech
Pope Francis made him a cardinal in 2020.
Cardinal Mario Grech. PHOTO/ Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila.
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn
Christoph Schönborn was born on 22 January 1945 in what is now Skalsko, the Czech Republic.
He is the archbishop emeritus of Vienna and Ordinary for the faithful of the Byzantine rite in Austria.
On 11 July 1991 he was appointed titular Bishop of Sutri and Auxiliary of Vienna and was ordained on 29 September 1991.
Also Read: Meet Cardinal Robert Sarah: A Possible African Successor to the Pope Francis
He was then appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Vienna on 13 April 1995 and became Archbishop of Vienna on 14 September 1995.
In 1996 he preached the Lenten spiritual exercises for the Pope and the Roman Curia.
Between 1998 and 2020, he was President of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference.
He participated in the conclave of April 2005, which elected Pope Benedict XVI, and in the conclave of March 2013, which elected Pope Francis.
Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson was born on 11 October 1948 in Nsuta-Wassaw, Ghana.
He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Cape Coast on 20 July 1975.
From 1975-76 and 1980-1981, he served as a staff member at St Theresa’s Seminary, and from 1981-1987 as staff member at St Peter’s Seminary.
He was Acting Chaplain and Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast (1984-1986) and Visiting Lecturer at the Catholic Major Seminary, Anyama, Ivory Coast (1983-1986). He has been a Chancellor of the Catholic University College of Ghana since 2003.
Also Read: Pope Francis is Dead: How Catholic Church Chooses New Leader & Who Could be Next in Line
On 6 October 1992 he was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast and received episcopal ordination on 27 March 1993.
He served as president of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (1997-2004).
He was also Chairman of the Ghana Chapter of the Conference of Religions for Peace (2003-2007) and Ghana National Peace Council (2006-2010).
On 24 October 2009, he was nominated President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
He was confirmed by Pope Francis as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace on September 24, 2013.
He participated in the conclave of April 2005, which elected Pope Benedict XVI, and in the conclave of March 2013, which elected Pope Francis.
Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke
Raymond Leo Burke was born on 30 June 1948 in Richland Center, Wisconsin, United States (U.S).
He studied for the priesthood at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and was ordained a priest by Pope Paul VI on 29 June 1975 in St. Peter’s Basilica.
After his ordination, he returned to La Cross and served as associate rector at the Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman and taught religion at the Aquinas High School.
Burke was appointed bishop of La Crosse IN December 1994 and received episcopal ordination on January 6, 1995 in St. Peter’s Basilica.
On 2 December 2003, he was appointed as Archbishop of Saint Loui.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature in June 2008.
On 8 November 2014 Pope Francis nominated him Patron of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. He was Patron until 19 June 2023.
He participated in the conclave of March 2013, which elected Pope Francis.
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