Prominent Cardinals Seen As Potential Successors To Pope Francis

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VATICAN CITY – Although there are no official campaigns or candidacies, names are already emerging with real possibilities of becoming the next pontiff.

According to international reports there are nearly a dozen main contenders, including two Italians, 70-year-old Pietro Parolin, who’s currently the Secretary of State of the Vatican, and 69-year-old Matteo Maria Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna, one of the figures closest to Francis’s reformist legacy.

Other European figures viewed as possible new popes include 72-year-old Hungarian Peter Erdo, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, who is considered one of the most conservative voices among potential successors, and Frenchman Jean-Marc Aveline, the 66-year-old Archbishop of Marseille and close friend of Pope Francis.

Another major front runner is 76-year-old Ghanaian Cardinal in Africa, Peter Turkson, a well-known figure in the church’s social justice circles. Turkson is a former Head of The Dicastery, promoting integral human development, and has been vocal on issues such as climate change, poverty and economic justice.

Then there’s 67-year-old Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, who has a solid theological, pastoral, and diplomatic background and is also seen as a charismatic figure with global reach.

Other names in the conversation are Canadian Gerald Lacroix, Brazilian Odilo Pedro Scherer, and American Robert Prevost.

The College of Cardinals has a maximum of 15 days to meet after the papal vacancy. From that moment, the world turns its eyes to the Sistine Chapel, where decisions will be made that will mark the course of Catholicism for the coming decades.