Cardinals are preparing to fight for the future direction of the Catholic Church

Rome
Cnn
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The death of Pope Francis fires the starting weapon on what many see as the struggle for the soul of the Church – those who want to continue his progressive reforms against a small but powerful group that she wants to reverse.

Francis deformed the group of prelates, who will soon submit their voices for his successor to Michelangelo’s Fresco of the latest court in the Sistine chapel.

Only cardinals under the age of 80 have a voice and he chose most.

As the first Pope from the global south, he decided to open the old, unwritten rule book in which bishops of certain dioceses – most of them in Italy, Europe and the USA – were automatically produced cardinals.

Instead, Francis tried to internationalize the College of Cardinals and gave red hats such as Tonga, Myanmar, Mongolia, the Central African Republic and Haiti.

His reforms made the body more representative for the global Catholic community, while the cardinals, which he had selected on the whole, share his vision of the church. All of this makes it more likely that the cardinals choose a Pope that represents continuity with Francis.

But complies can raise surprises, and despite the reforms that Francis made, there is a small but determined minority that is dissatisfied with the latest papacy and will look for ways to change the course.

Part of the opposition is well financed and the pre -concrete maneuvering has been lasting for several years. These cardinals were concerned about Francis’ openness, divorced and again married couples, his welcome to LGBTQ+ catholics and his strong criticism of what he described as “backward movement” Catholics who wanted to bring the church back in a different way.

His criticism of economic inequality and concentration on the rights of migrants and the climate crisis, which were taken from Catholics, wanted a Pope to define the law on moral teachings.

During the hospital, the Pope signed a three-year reform process, including how women in the Catholic Church can give a greater role, including the determination of deacons and the greater inclusion of laypersons in government and decision-making.

The reforms were examined by a structure called the synod of bishops, which was the main vehicle through which the Pope implemented its pastoral agenda during his papacy. In recent years he has tried to include Catholics from all over the world in the renewal process.

The big question is how the next Pope will continue this process, which will continue by 2028.

The debate will probably seriously heat after the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, as attention will then be paid to the upcoming conclave – the start date for which it was not confirmed.

A group that can be carefully observed are the cardinals over 80 years of age who cannot choose, but can play an important role in the most important pre-concrete meetings and informal discussions in Roman trattories or in the apartments of cardinals.

Some of these retired cardinals were not appointed by Francis, and some have opposed the direction in which the first Latin American Pope tried to take over the church.

Cardinal Blase Cupich from Chicago and Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the retired Archbishop of Bombay, could play this role of the “royal maker”, as could Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the former papal ambassador in the USA or Cardinal Arthur Roche, a British Vatican. Then there is the Honduran Cardinal -Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, who is extremely experienced, is multilingual and supports a candidate who corresponds to Francis’s pastoral priorities.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Canadian prelate, who led the Vatican’s office for the appointment of bishops for years, probably also has a number that influences the procedure, as well as the Ghan Cardinal Peter Turkson, who heads the Popes of the Science Academy and the Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. Some of the most critical voices come from the retired cardinals such as Joseph Zen from Hong Kong, who was a loud critic of Francis and the diplomatic approach of the Vatican to China.

There is also a considerable number of cardinals that may want to follow the Francis reforms, but with a Pope that is more predictable and less of “shock and awe” of the late Pope.

During the Francis Pontificate, a group of cardinals undertook the extremely unusual step to publicly question the Pope in order to enable his decision to enable communion for divorced and receded Catholics, while on two occasions anonymous memos of unnamed cardinals that strongly criticized Francis.

The first was published under the pseudonym “Demos” and later proved to be written by Australian Cardinal George Pell, whom Francis had appointed the Vatican treasurer. The second, “Demos II”, accused the late Pope in a autocratic style, and said that the next Pope had to “recover and restore truths that are slowly hidden or lost in many Christians”.

The upcoming conclave takes place in the middle of the social media’s eye, and the cardinals have to make sure that they check the candidates closely. A church historian wrote about the possible “catastrophe” of a newly elected Pope who is forced to step down in an imaginary scenario in which allegations not to appeal to sexual abuse suddenly appear online. This papal choice takes place in an atmosphere in which an assertion could quickly torpedo when it is a claim.

Then there are many forces in the church that want to influence the vote, many of which are well financed, organized and connected to the United States. In December 2024, a website entitled “The College of Cardinals Report” was launched, in which the cardinals on blessing are same-sex couples, women’s deacone and “Vatican-China Secret Accords” ordinate. The website comes from groups that deeply oppose the Francis Pontificate.

And six years earlier, it turned out that a group in the United States aimed more than 1 million US dollars to put together dossiers for candidates to prevent the chosen conclave from repeating. As members of this group, “The Red Hat Report”, presented their project, they were an attempt to improve the government and accountability within the Church, and said “We might not have Pope Francis” if it had existed at the time.

For some years before the Pope’s death, those who had had against his papacy had discussed how to influence the next conclave. In 2020, two books entitled “The Next Pope” were published, both of authors who are known as Francis’ critics. One of them even became among his colleagues from Dolan, the US cardinal, among the church laws, which says that prelates do not publicly discuss possible papal candidates.

A driving force behind some of the pre-concrete maneuvers was Pell, who had an impressive network of contacts and was politically sent: According to the Australian prelate, the conservative Hungarian cardinal Péter Erdő had reported as a papal candidate.

After his conviction for sexual child abuse had been lifted by the Supreme Court of Australia, Pell returned to Rome and took on an active role that was prepared for the next conclave. Pell’s death in January 2023 at the age of 81 left the opposition to Francis without an obvious leader.

If the cardinals decide who is to be elected to the Pope, various factors are taken into account. A potential dividing line could arise through the decision of the Pope to allow same -sex blessings, with several bishops in Africa and Eastern Europe strongly resist. Would the African and Eastern European cardinals coordinate as a block for a candidate who is likeable with their views on this topic?

Francis’ selection of cardinals from very different parts of the world means that some of the papal voters don’t know each other so well. Some do not speak Italian, the labor language of the Vatican (although English and Spanish are widespread). This would give any candidate who could get to know the cardinals well and play an advantage and play a role that she convened or managed during the time before the conclaved.

In 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzer’s instructions for the pre-concrete meetings, his linguistic skills and the sermons, which he preached before the vote, played an important role in his election as Pope Benedict XVI.

According to the action-packed Francis papacy, there may be other cardinals that, although they want to support the deceased Pope, want someone who is less a newsmaker and disruptor. You could choose someone.

Nevertheless, it is likely that the one who is selected as a Pope is expected by the Catholics around the world to continue the most important reforms that Francis began, and to try to further “institutionalize” the changes he asked in the Catholic Church.

However, do not discount the determination of those who want to find the possibilities of beating the brakes of the Francis project.