These Cardinals Are The Top Candidates To Succeed Pope Francis.

Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will soon close the doors of the Sistine Chapel to select a successor to Pope Francis in the conclave ballot process, voting to select a new pontiff, with these cardinals suspected to be among the top candidates.

Key Facts

Jean-Marc Aveline (France): The archbishop of Marseille, France, became a cardinal in 2022 and holds similar beliefs to Francis, despite having cautioned about blessing same-sex couples. Aveline, 66, is known among French media for his resemblance to Pope John XXIII, and Francis quipped in 2021 his successor would be named Pope John XXIV in 2025.

Peter Erdo (Hungary): Erdo, 71, the archbishop of Budapest and Hungary’s primate, is among the top candidates for pontiff, the Associated Press reports, after he was named the head of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences in 2005 and 2011, an earlier role that could help him draw more votes among voting European cardinals. Erdo has said there are “absolutely no grounds” for considering same-sex marriages “in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family,” and Erdo appeared to oppose Francis’ call for churches to support migrants in 2015.

Pietro Parolin (Italy): Parolin, 70, was appointed the Vatican’s Secretary of State by Francis in 2014, and he will likely be seen as a candidate to succeed Francis because of his respect among secular diplomats, including for his negotiations with China and several Middle East countries, according to Vatican analysts. Parolin was involved in reaching an agreement between the Vatican and the Chinese government in 2018, though the Vatican was criticized for “selling out” to China’s communist government.

Marc Ouellet (Canada): Ouellet, 80, was reportedly among the top candidates for pope in 2005 and 2013 and will likely be another contender in 2025, according to the Associated Press, as Ouellet has controlled the Vatican’s bishop office for over a decade. Ouellet leans conservative and opposes same-sex marriages and ordaining women as deacons, saying in 2021 that men and women should not be “placed completely on the same level from the point of view of ministry.”

Luis Tagle (Philippines): Alberto Melloni, a historian based in Rome, told The Washington Post that Tagle, 67, was once considered to be Francis’ “rising star” while serving as pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization in the Philippines, and Tagle has previously criticized “harsh” and “severe” rhetoric used by clerics to describe the LGTBQ+ community, divorced people and unwed mothers.

Matteo Zuppi (Italy): Zuppi, 69, became the archbishop of Bologna, Italy, in 2015 and is known for his similarities to Francis, including a focus on migrants and the poor, Reuters reported, and he has defended Francis’ decision to bless same-sex couples. Zuppi is among the more progressive candidates for pontiff and is known for a “street priest” persona, like Francis, because he supports the poor and disenfranchised, though he opposes ordaining women as deacons and priests.

Fridolin Ambongo (Congo): Ambongo, 65, the archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was named a cardinal by Francis in 2019 and has since been considered one of his possible successors, The New York Times reports. Ambongo is one of nine members of the Council of Cardinals, an advisory group to Francis, and he led an opposition to Francis’ ruling in 2023 that churches should bless same-sex couples, writing “unions of persons of the same sex” are considered “intrinsically evil.”

Robert Sarah (Guinea): Sarah, 79, is a prelate from Guinea and the former head of the Vatican’s liturgy office who has been considered a possible successor to Francis for years. Sarah is among the more conservative-leaning prospects and has opposed blessing same-sex couples, referring to the blessings as “heresy” and same-sex couples as “irregular,” while he has also reportedly called abortion the “greatest tragedy of our time” and previously warned about the “threat” of Islam.

Mario Grech (Malta): The secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, Grech, 68, shared largely conservative views before Francis was elected pope in 2013. In 2014, Grech called on the church to be more accepting of LGBTQ+ members, saying at the time Catholic rhetoric was harmful to LGBTQ+ members, and later expressed support for women as deacons.