After Pope Francis’ death on Monday, the world is waiting to see who will become the next Supreme Pontiff.
Pope Francis’ funeral will take place on Saturday and will see dignitaries from all over the world attend, with Prince William attending from the UK in place of the King Charles III.
He will be buried in a much simpler coffin than his predecessors, with his coffin just a simple wooden casket, representative of his simplification of the papal funereal process.
Francis will also be the first pope in 100 years to not be inside the Vatican, instead being buried at the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome.
How is the new pope chosen?
The new pope will be elected in secret by cardinals, with those above the age of 80 not allowed to vote.
In total, there are 252 cardinals in total, but only 135 of them are under 80.
The cardinals will have no access to the outside world, including mobile phones, throughout the process and a new pope must achieve 90 votes.
This can happen through many rounds of voting.
The way the results are signified to the outside world is through smoke from the burning of the ballots, black smoke signals no result, and white smoke will signal a new pope has been elected.
The process traditionally begins 15 days after the previous pope’s death and can take months.
The longest conclave was in 1268 which lasted three years and saw the death of three cardinals.
Francis’ election in 2013 took just two days.
Who could succeed Francis?
Pietro Parolin: An Italian who is currently the Vatican’s Secretary of State, he expected to preside over the conclave himself.
Parolin has held the position since 2013 and was appointed by Pope Francis to the role, which is as an advisor to the pope and performed political and diplomatic functions of the Vatican state.
Parolin is seen as in-between progressives and conservatives.
He said that he was saddened by the equality of marriage amendment in Ireland in 2015 as a rejection of Catholic principles.
He is widely seen as a continuation of Pope Francis.
Luis Antonio Tagle: Cardinal Tagle hails from the Philippines and could be the first Asian pope.
He shares similar views with the late Pope Francis regarding migrants and is also considered relatively moderate.
He is a vocal opponent of abortion rights, but has called for the church to be kinder towards divorcees and the LGBTQ+ community.
Peter Turkson: Cardinal Turkson is from Ghana and stands a chance of becoming the first African pope in 1,500 years.
The last African pope took office in 492 AD.
Turkson leans conservative, but has rallied against the criminalisation of homosexuality in Africa calling for it not to be an offence.
His views on homosexuality has caused conflict between him and other African cardinals, especially in his native Ghana.
He has also been vocal on issues of climate change and poverty.
Peter Erdo: Cardinal Erdo is from Hungary and is the foremost conservative candidate for the papacy.
If Erdo is elected pope, it would signify a major shift away from the progression of Pope Francis.
He is opposed to divorced Catholics receiving Holy Communion and said that the church taking in refugees would amount to human trafficking.
He is firmly opposed to same sex marriage.
Picture credit: Free to use from Unsplash
Join the discussion