Potential successors to Pope Francis

With no official campaign nor list of candidates and an election process shrouded in secrecy, speculation about who will succeed Pope Francis after the conclave beginning Wednesday is just that -- speculation.

But here are 15 cardinals among the potential favourites to succeed Pope Francis -- so-called "papabili" -- divided by region.

Europe

Pietro Parolin (Italy), Francis's number two at the Vatican

Parolin, 70, was secretary of state -- the Vatican's effective number two -- during almost all of Francis's pontificate and its most visible exponent on the world stage.

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Known for his calm and subtle sense of humour, the polyglot also has a fine grasp of the intricacies of the Roman Curia, the Holy See's central government, and was part of a group of cardinal advisers to Francis.

He is currently considered one of the leading candidates to become the next pope.

Parolin played a key role in a landmark -- and controversial -- 2018 Vatican agreement with China on naming bishops.

Pierbattista Pizzaballa (Italy), Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

Pizzaballa, 60, is the top Catholic in the Middle East with an archdiocese encompassing Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, and Cyprus.

He was made a cardinal in September 2023, shortly before the war broke out between Israel and Hamas.

The Franciscan has appealed for peace from both sides, and at Christmas in 2024, led mass in both Gaza and Jerusalem.

Matteo Maria Zuppi (Italy), Archbishop of Bologna

A member of the Roman lay community of Sant'Egidio, Zuppi has for more than three decades acted as a discreet diplomat for the Vatica,n including serving as Pope Francis's special peace envoy for Ukraine.

Known for riding his bicycle around Bologna, 69-year-old Zuppi is a popular figure for his decades of work on behalf of the needy. He also advocates for welcoming migrants and gay Catholics into the Church.

He has been president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) since 2022.

Cristobal Lopez Romero (Spain), Archbishop of Rabat

Spanish-born Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, 72, has spent decades of his career in South America and has Paraguayan nationality. He is now based in Morocco, in majority-Muslim North Africa.

Lopez is seen by some as a successor to Francis due to his support for migrant rights and inter-faith dialogue, while his career is emblematic of the late pontiff's push into the Catholic Church's "peripheries".

But Lopez himself told AFP that the new pope "doesn't necessarily have to be a Francis mark II, a Francis impersonator".

Francis named Lopez an archbishop in 2017 and promoted him to cardinal in 2019.

Jean-Marc Aveline (France), Archbishop of Marseille

Born in Algeria, 66-year-old 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.

Anders Arborelius (Sweden), Bishop of Stockholm

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 Francis, 75-year-old Arborelius advocates welcoming migrants to Europe, including Christians, Catholics, and potential converts.

Mario Grech (Malta), Bishop Emeritus of Gozo

Born into a small village on the tiny Mediterranean archipelago of Malta, 68-year-old 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 divorced spouses who remarry -- and passes it on to 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.

Peter Erdo (Hungary), Metropolitan Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest

An intellectual and respected expert in canon law, Erdo speaks seven languages, has published more than 25 books, and is recognised for his openness to other religions.

But the 72-year-old has faced criticism for his ties with the government of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose harsh views on migration clashed with those of Francis.

Known for his enthusiasm for evangelism, Erdo -- who grew up under Communism -- is a conservative on such issues as gay marriage and the divorced who remarry.

Jose Tolentino de Mendonca (Portugal), prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education

A Portuguese theologian and poet, Tolentino has led the Vatican's dicastery, or department, of culture and education since 2022.

A former archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church, the 59-year-old was made a cardinal by Francis in 2019.

Regarded as progressive within the Church, his stance on welcoming homosexuals has earned him the hostility of some conservatives.

With a doctorate in biblical theology, he has published books and articles on theology as well as poetic works, which have earned him several literary awards.

Asia

Luis Antonio Tagle (Philippines), Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila

Tagle, Asia's front-runner 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, the 67-year-old is an eloquent speaker with self-deprecating humour and, like Francis, a leading advocate for the poor, migrants and marginalised people.

Nicknamed "Chito", he was made a cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2012 and was already considered a candidate for pope in the 2013 conclave in which Francis was elected.

Charles Maung Bo (Myanmar), Archbishop of Yangon

Myanmar-born Bo became the Buddhist-majority country's first and only cardinal in 2015, appointed by Francis.

Bo has called for dialogue and reconciliation in his conflict-ridden country, and after the military coup of 2021 appealed to opposition protesters to remain non-violent.

The 76-year-old has defended the mainly Muslim Rohingya, calling them victims of "ethnic cleansing", and spoken out against human trafficking uprooting the lives of many young Burmese.

He was head of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) between 2019 and 2024.

Malcolm Ranjith (Sri Lanka), Archbishop of Colombo

Sri Lanka's conservative Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has long been considered a dark horse for the papacy, but his credentials were boosted in the wake of the island's worst terrorist attack in 2019.

The 77-year-old Sinhalese prelate has pursued a campaign in the ensuing years, petitioning the United Nations and the international community for justice over the suicide bombings of Easter Sunday in April 2019 that killed 279 civilians.

Ranjith's efforts have placed the 167 Catholic victims of the attacks on the path to sainthood, after the Vatican declared them "Witnesses of the Faith" last month.

A former papal nunio, or ambassador, to Indonesia and East Timor, Ranjith was made a cardinal in 2010 by Benedict XVI. He is considered a traditionalist who has prohibited cultural practices borrowed from other religions and supports the Latin Mass.

Africa

Peter Turkson (Ghana), Archbishop emeritus of Cape Coast

One of the Church's most influential cardinals from Africa, 76-year-old Turkson has for years been mentioned as a possible first black pope.

Made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003, the multilingual Turkson has been a papal envoy and mediator, including in South Sudan.

He also served between 2016 and 2021 as the first head of a top Vatican department, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which deals with human rights and migrants, 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.

Robert Sarah (Guinea), former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

Had 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 to choose his successor.

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 called in 2015 "Western ideologies on homosexuality and abortion and Islamic fanaticism", he denounced Francis's 2023 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.

Americas

Robert Francis Prevost (United States), Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo

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.

The 69-year-old spent years as a missionary in Peru and is the Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo in the South American country.

Made a cardinal by Francis in 2023, he is also the president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.