Race to be the next pope: New book details the possible candidates
Cardinal Robert Sarah (center) is on the list of cardinals who could be elected the next pope. Wikipedia Commons photo.
(REVIEW) The speculation over who will be the next pope is often a preoccupation of the Italian press. Newspapers up and down the peninsula love to handicap the race for the cardinal who is thought to be the most likely candidate to be elected pope. Indeed, the Italian term papabile, coined by Vatican watchers, has become mainstream over the last few decades.
Which man is “pope-able” (that is, able to become pope) is often debates in Rome and anywhere Roman Catholics gather. Who will follow Pope Francis? The pontiff turns 84 in December, fueling speculation over who his replacement will be once he dies and the College of Cardinals meets to elect a new leader.
A new book out on August 4, The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates (Sophia Institute Press) by the National Catholic Register's longtime Rome correspondent Edward Pentin (you can read his wonderful work here), delves into the lives of the cardinals most likely to ascend to the Chair of St. Peter. Extremely well-researched (thanks to the help of international scholars), this book is a must for all Catholics and non who want to take a peek into what the future of the church could look like and what personal experiences and philosophies these various men bring to the table.
In all, Pentin helped to pinpoint 19 men who could replace Francis once his pontificate is over. The spiritual leader of over one billion Catholics worldwide and one of the most influential moral and religious figures in the world isn’t a job to take lightly. What this book does well is offer up an in-depth account of these cardinals (their ecclesiastical life as priests and later bishops), many of whom remain unknown to most people.
Each chapter profiles a cardinal and features a short biography. What makes this book a wonderful reference guide isn’t just the encyclopedic details it provides, but also details each man’s views on moral and theological matters — some of which are now being openly debated across the doctrinal spectrum as Francis’ papacy continues to divide Catholics across the world.
Criticism of Francis’ papacy is especially felt across conservatives in North America and Western Europe, where the growth of political populism in the Trump and Brexit era has put Pope Francis’ views on climate change and immigration to the left of many Catholic voters. The Vatican press office, and the mixed messaging to come out of Rome in recent years, hasn’t helped fill this divide. If anything, it has grown larger in recent years.
Further driving this wedge was the scandal involving ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, what Francis knew about it and the accusations launched by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano. The allegations have made matters worse, exposing some of the political machinations that takes place behind closed doors of Vatican City. While the pope has addressed the notion of a schism, that remains unlikely for now. But the book does go into how divided some of these cardinals are about the future of the church and its relevance in an ever-secularized West.
As a Vatican correspondent, Pentin knows these stories of palace intrigue very well. He takes his reporting and scholarly research to put together a book that highlights prelates such as Cardinal Raymond Burke of the United States and Robert Sarah of Guinea. Both men, holdovers of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, have publicly sparred with Francis on a host of theological priorities.
Cardinal Sarah, the most-prominent African prelate, would make sense as next pope. As the church continues to grow in Africa, the election of Sarah could bring new followers and intensify the faith of Roman Catholics across that continent. Burke, as an American, has an outsider’s shot but should not be dismissed altogether. In 2013, at the conclave that elected Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis), Boston Archbishop Sean O’Malley is said to have been in the running.
The list also includes some Italians, always favorites for the papacy. Among them is the retired Angelo Scola, who served as Milan’s cardinal until 2017. Scola makes Pentin’s list since given that the now-retired cardinal was the leading candidate in 2013. A year after retiring, Scola expressed opposition to giving Communion to those who are divorced and civilly remarried, which has been the focus of controversy surrounding Francis's apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia.
Like the U.S. Supreme Court, the College of Cardinals is stacked with Francis promotions, which could very well sway the theological leanings of the next pope. Finally, Pentin’s book also includes a summary at the end of each profile, giving readers — and even the cardinals tasked with voting for the next pontiff – a invaluable tool before the next time white smoke fills the skies of Rome.
Clemente Lisi is a senior editor and regular contributor to Religion Unplugged. He is the former deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and teaches journalism at The King’s College in New York City. Follow him on Twitter @ClementeLisi.