Could Cardinal Erdő succeed Pope Francis?
January 6th, 2024A left-wing columnist dismisses as pure conjecture speculation about the chances of the Archbishop of Esztergom becoming the next Pope.
In Népszava, Tamás Rónay wonders why much of the Hungarian media uncritically reproduced an opinion piece published on the Italy Start website, in which the Hungarian Cardinal figures at the top of a list of potential papal candidates. Pope Francis, Rónay writes, is stubbornly working on progressive reforms. Meanwhile, three out of four cardinals under 80 years of age (who will have to vote for his successor) are already his appointees, which suggests to Rónay that reformist candidates will have a better chance of election than conservatives. Rónay doesn’t qualify Cardinal Erdő either as a conservative or as a reformer but remarks that he is influential mainly among conservative African bishops. He also mentions that the head of the Hungarian Catholic church figures as number one on Italy Start’s list of papal hopefuls because the potential candidates are listed in alphabetical order.
Tags: Erdő Péter, Pope Francis