WATCH THE VIDEO HERE His death concluded a 12-year papacy noted for its emphasis on humility, advocacy for social justice, and efforts to reform the Catholic Church. The funeral Mass took place on April 26, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square, led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, and was attended by numerous dignitaries and faithful from across the globe. After the Mass, Pope Francis was laid to rest at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, in accordance with his wish to be buried near the Salus Populi Romani icon, to which he held a profound devotion. This marked the first instance since 1903 of a pope being interred outside Vatican City. Naijaonpoint reports that the College of Cardinals is scheduled to gather on May 7, 2025, to elect the next pope in the Sistine Chapel, where 133 cardinal electors under the age of 80 will participate. The election will focus on prayer and contemplation, with voting continuing until a candidate achieves a two-thirds majority. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, originating from the Philippines, is recognised for his progressive perspectives and pastoral empathy. He has actively supported marginalised communities, including LGBTQ+ individuals and migrants. Nevertheless, his leadership has encountered criticism regarding administrative difficulties and the management of abuse allegations. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, serving as the Vatican’s Secretary of State, possesses considerable diplomatic expertise. He was instrumental in the 2018 Vatican-China agreement, which has garnered both commendation for its diplomatic efforts and criticism for perceived concessions to the Chinese government. Parolin’s administrative skills are commendable, yet he is under scrutiny for previous decisions. Both individuals have been implicated in discussions surrounding the mishandling of clerical abuse cases, underscoring the persistent challenges the Church faces in confronting historical misconduct. With no formal campaigning or candidate list and the election process enveloped in secrecy, speculation regarding the successor to Pope Francis, following the conclave commencing this week, remains merely conjecture. However, there are 15 cardinals identified as potential frontrunners to succeed Pope Francis, referred to as ‘papabili,’ categorized by region. Parolin served as the secretary of state, effectively the second-in-command at the Vatican, for nearly the entirety of Francis’s papacy, and he has been a prominent figure on the global stage. Known for his composed demeanour and subtle humour, this polyglot possesses a deep understanding of the complexities of the Roman Curia, the central governing body of the Holy See, and was part of a group of cardinal advisors to Francis. He is currently viewed as the leading candidate to succeed as pope. Additionally, he played a significant role in the landmark and contentious 2018 Vatican agreement with China regarding the appointment of bishops. Pizzaballa serves as the leading Catholic figure in the Middle East, overseeing an archdiocese that includes Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, and Cyprus. He was appointed a cardinal in September 2023, just prior to the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Hamas. The Franciscan has called for peace from both parties and, during Christmas 2024, officiated mass in both Gaza and Jerusalem. Matteo Maria Zuppi, aged 69, is the Archbishop of Bologna, Italy. As a member of the Roman community of Sant’Egidio, Zuppi has spent over thirty years as a subtle diplomat for the Vatican, including his role as Pope Francis’s special peace envoy for Ukraine. Renowned for cycling around Bologna, Zuppi is well-regarded for his extensive efforts on behalf of the underprivileged. He also champions the inclusion of migrants and LGBTQ+ Catholics within the Church. Since 2022, he has held the position of president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI). An academic and multi-lingual diplomat from the Italian city of Verona, Gugerotti is an expert on the Eastern Churches. He has served as nuncio — or ambassador of the Holy See in several countries, from 2002 in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, later in Belarus, and then from 2015 to 2020 in Ukraine. The author of several books, Gugerotti, largely avoids commenting on controversial issues. He was named Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches in 2022 and was made a cardinal in 2023. Born in Algeria, Aveline has spent most of his life in the French port city of Marseille. Like his close friend Pope Francis, he has been a voice for welcoming migrants and promoting interreligious dialogue. Appreciated for his discretion, intellectual abilities and people skills, Aveline has carved out a reputation as a cardinal to watch since his elevation in 2022. Appointed in 2017 as Sweden’s first cardinal, Arborelius is a convert to Catholicism in the overwhelmingly Protestant Scandinavian country, home to one of the world’s most secularised societies. He is the first Swedish Catholic bishop since the Protestant Reformation and a staunch defender of Church doctrine, notably opposed to allowing women to be deacons or blessing same-sex couples. Like Pope Francis, Arborelius advocates welcoming migrants to Europe, including Christians, Catholics and potential converts. Born into a small village on the tiny Mediterranean archipelago of Malta, Grech is a peace broker and potential compromise candidate for the papacy. He was secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, a body that gathers information from local churches on crucial issues for the Church — such as the place of women or remarried divorcees, and passes it onto the pope. He had to perform a delicate balancing act, following Pope Francis’s lead on creating an open, attentive Church while acknowledging the concerns of conservatives. A distinguished and knowledgeable authority in canon law, Erdo is fluent in seven languages, has authored over 25 publications, and is acknowledged for his receptiveness to diverse faiths. However, he has encountered backlash due to his associations with the administration of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose stringent perspectives on immigration are at odds with those of the late Argentine pope. Renowned for his passion for evangelism, Erdo, who was raised during the Communist era, holds conservative views on matters such as same-sex marriage and the remarriage of divorcees. A Jesuit like Pope Francis, Hollerich spent more than 20 years in Japan, and is a specialist in European-Asian cultural relations as well as German literature. Firm on dogma, the theologian is still open to the need for the Church to adapt to societal changes, much like the Argentine pope he was close to and for whom he served as an adviser on the Council of Cardinals. Hollerich has advocated for the environment and has pushed for laypeople, especially young people, to have more involvement in the Church. Tagle, Asia’s frontrunner for the papacy, is a charismatic moderate who has not been afraid to criticise the Church for its shortcomings, including over the sexual abuse of minors. Fluent in English and active on social media, he is an eloquent speaker with self-deprecating humour and, like Francis, is a leading advocate for the poor, migrants and marginalised people. Nicknamed “Chito”, he was made a cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2012 and had already been considered a candidate for pope in the 2013 conclave in which Francis was elected. In 2015, Bo, who was born in Myanmar, became the first and only cardinal of the predominantly Buddhist nation, having been appointed by Pope Francis. He has advocated for dialogue and reconciliation in the conflict-stricken Myanmar and, following the military coup in 2021, urged opposition protesters to maintain a stance of non-violence. Bo has also defended the largely Muslim Rohingya community, describing them as victims of ‘ethnic cleansing,’ and has raised his voice against human trafficking that disrupts the lives of many young individuals in Burma. From 2019 to 2024, he served as the head of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC). One of the Church’s most influential cardinals from Africa, Turkson has for years been mentioned as a possible first black pope. Made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003, the multi-lingual Turkson has been a papal envoy and mediator, including in South Sudan. He also served between 2016 and 2021 as head of a top Vatican department, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which deals with human rights and migration among other issues. Born into a humble family of 10 children, Turkson has criticised anti-gay legislation in Uganda, but defends Catholic sexual morality and has denied that homosexuality is a human rights issue. A former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments As it is, though, he has found himself championed by conservative Catholics in the French-speaking world as a candidate to turn the clock back on progressive reforms. An ardent opponent of what he in 2015 called “Western ideologies on homosexuality and abortion and Islamic fanaticism”, he denounced a 2024 text that paved the way for the blessing of same-sex couples. Experts believe his views make him too conservative to win a two-thirds majority at the conclave, but even a possible candidacy has boosted his profile. Ambongo was the only cardinal from Africa on Pope Francis’s advisory council of cardinals, and is the leader of the association of African bishops, SECAM. Born in 1960, the year of DRC’s independence from Belgium, he has been a strong voice for peace in his conflict-ridden country — and is outspoken in his conservative views. He notably signed a letter in January 2024 voicing opposition to the Vatican’s declaration allowing priests to carry out non-liturgical blessings of same-sex unions. In a 2023 interview, Ambongo — who some believe could be his continent’s first pope — proclaimed that “Africa is the future of the Church, it’s obvious”. A native of Chicago, Prevost was in 2023 appointed prefect of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, which is charged with advising the pope on appointments of new bishops. He spent years as a missionary in Peru and is the Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo in that South American country. Made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023, he is also the president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Dolan, a cheerful and rosy-faced extrovert of Irish-American descent, is a staunch theological conservative who strongly opposes abortion. As the former archbishop of Milwaukee, he managed the repercussions of a significant sexual abuse scandal within the diocese. In New York, facing a decline in Church membership, Dolan has made efforts to connect with the expanding Hispanic community, which largely identifies as Catholic.
Pope Francis passed away on April 21, 2025, at the age of 88, due to a stroke and cardiac arrest at his residence in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, Vatican City.
Leading Contenders
Pope Francis’s Potential Successors From Europe
1- Pietro Parolin (Italy), 70, Francis’s number two at the Vatican
2- Pierbattista Pizzaballa (Italy), 60, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
3- Claudio Gugerotti (Italy), 69
4- Jean-Marc Aveline (France), 66, Archbishop of Marseille
5- Anders Arborelius (Sweden), 75, Bishop of Stockholm
6- Mario Grech (Malta), 68, Bishop emeritus of Gozo
7- Peter Erdo (Hungary), 72, Metropolitan Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest
8- Jean-Claude Hollerich, 66, Archbishop of Luxembourg
Pope Francis’s Potential Successors From Asia
9- Luis Antonio Tagle (Philippines), 67, Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila
10- Charles Maung Bo (Myanmar), 76, Archbishop of Yangon
Pope Francis’s Potential Successors From Africa
11- Peter Turkson (Ghana), 76, Archbishop emeritus of Cape Coast
12- Robert Sarah (Guinea), 79
Had Pope Francis lived a few more months, conservative prelate Robert Sarah — who turns 80 on June 16 — would have been too old to join the conclave or to succeed him.13- Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (Democratic Republic of Congo), 65, Archbishop of Kinshasa
Pope Francis’s Potential Successors From America
14- Robert Francis Prevost (United States), 69, Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo
15- Timothy Dolan (United States), 75, Archbishop of New York
Full List: 15 Potential Successors Of Late Pope Francis
