In a Fox News article, TCA senior fellow Mary FioRito highlights the unprecedented demographic of the conclave that will soon elect the new leader of the Catholic Church, and how its makeup might affect the outcome. With historic numbers of cardinals from Africa and Asia, and an 80 percent representation of cardinals appointed by Pope Francis himself, the world is watching to see what direction the new papacy might take – whether a continuation of Pope Francis’ mission, or a new emphasis on poverty and persecution of Christians around the world.
The article titled, “Church expert predicts election of next pope will feature ‘most diverse’ conclave in Church history,” reads:
“Pope Francis’ emphasis on reaching out to the ‘peripheries’ of the Catholic Church and world will result in the most diverse collection of church leaders in history gathering to select the new pope.
According to Mary FioRito, an expert on papal elections and a senior fellow at the Catholic Association, this could very well result in the next pope having a very different set of priorities than the late pontiff.
Francis has selected about 80% of the 135 church leaders – called cardinals – who will vote for the next pope in the upcoming papal conclave.
The result will be that instead of being dominated by European or even Western cardinals, the conclave will have large contingents from regions like Africa and Asia.
“This will be the most diverse conclave in the history of the church,” FioRito said.
