“Whoever follows Francis must take up the legacy of Vatican II and of Pope Francis and engage the world without fear because we have the Gospel,” Cardinal Reina said in an interview the Gerard O’Connell.

“I become agitated when they say it’s time for an American, it’s time for an African, it’s time for a South Islander. I think that is so stupid. It’s time for the successor of Peter for 2025. The priority is evangelization.”

Whoever is elected as the next pope, one thing is certain: The church does not belong to him.

“He owes an apology,” Bishop Thomas Paprocki said after President Trump posted an image that appeared to be created by A.I. depicting himself as pope.

“We depend on the press to know who the candidates are, because names are not something we really talk about in there—perhaps only in small groups. This is not a parliament.”

The influence of the Synod on Synodality for the conclave—and what the result of the conclave might mean for the future of synodality

The role of the pope is in a process of conversion from worldly monarch to world’s priest.

At the Synod on Synodality, the cardinals were ‘converted’ to working together in a new way. As they join their brothers in the conclave, they face a referendum on—and resistance to—their work.

“In a time when the globalized economic and political order is crumbling—especially exposed during the Trump era—the church may well be one of the last stubborn institutions that still holds a truly global character.”

Far from the Sistine Chapel where cloistered cardinals will cast votes, people are placing bets on who will be chosen as the next pope.