10 Cardinals who might be the next pope

So which member of the College of Cardinals is going to be the next pope? 

As my mother would say, “God only knows – and He’s not telling.” Not yet, at least.

While the conclave begins a week from today, speculation is abound as to who will be the next person to ascend the Chair of St. Peter.  

At Aleteia, we do not claim to be able to predict the future, read minds, or discern the will of the Holy Spirit. That being said, here’s a brief look at some of the cardinals people are talking about ahead of the election. While "people are talking" about these men, it should probably be noted that the chatter varies from country to country. As Aleteia publishes in a variety of languages, the various editions note that a cardinal who is much spoken of in one country might be nearly ignored in another.

(The following 10 cardinals are presented in alphabetical order by last name, and the order or even the existence of this list is not and should not be considered an endorsement of any cardinal for the papacy.)

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, a Capuchin, is the Archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is also the president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar. 

Ambongo became well known when he worked with Pope Francis to give an African reaction to the blessing of same-sex couples, calling it a term that the Pope often used: “cultural colonization.” 

If elected, he would be the first Capuchin pope, and the first African pope in more than a millennia. While there have been several popes affiliated with some sort of Franciscan order, no Capuchin has been elected. 

One thing that might work against Ambongo is his age – at 65, he’s still fairly young and could theoretically serve as pope for decades. After the 26-year papacy of St. John Paul II and the 12 years of Pope Francis, the College of Cardinals may not want another long reign just yet. 

A favorite of more traditional-minded Catholics, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, 76, the former Archbishop of St. Louis, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, and Patron Emeritus of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, has had his name come up on several lists.

He nearly died from COVID back in 2021, and since then, has not been nearly as active in public as he was before his illness. 

In 2023, Burke was one of five cardinals – joining Cardinals Robert Sarah, Walter Brandmüller, Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun and Juan Sandoval Íñiguez – who authored a dubia ahead of the Synod on Synodality. 

There has never been a pope from the United States – or even a North American – and it is somewhat unlikely that the 2025 would bring us the first.

A native of Hungary, Cardinal Peter Erdo, the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and Primate of Hungary, is viewed as one of the more conservative members of the College of Cardinals. 

Erdo, 77, along with fellow cardinal-electors Cardinals Philippe Barbarin, Josip Bozanić, Vinko Puljic and Peter Turkson, are the last five voting members of the College of Cardinals who were appointed by St. John Paul II. 

At age 51 at the time of his elevation, Erdo was one of the youngest members of the College of Cardinals. 

Hailing from Mainz, Germany, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, 77, has spent most of his episcopacy in and around Rome, although he was the Bishop of Regensburg from 2002 to 2012. 

Ideologically and theologically conservative – although he reportedly dislikes that label – Müller was good friends with Pope Benedict XVI. (The labels of conservative or progressive, traditional or liberal don't really apply to the Church, as they are political labels and misunderstood, many observers admit.)

Müller is the Cardinal-Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a role the future Benedict also had for many years.

Cardina Pietro Parolin was Pope Francis' secretary of state. The 70-year-old Italian native served in that role since October 2013, and will be presiding over the upcoming conclave. 

Prior to his move to the Vatican, he was the Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela from 2009 until 2013. 

As a theological “moderate,” coupled with his closeness to Pope Francis, electing Parolin may be viewed as a continuation of the Francis papacy. And, he would bring his lifelong diplomatic service to an international situation that is increasingly complicated, observers consider.

More than just an amusing-sounding name, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, began to be discussed as a potential papabile months before Pope Francis died. (His name means pizza-dance.)

As the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Italian-born Franciscan has been thrust into the international spotlight since the start of the war in his patriarchate back in October 2023. Pizzaballa offered himself as a trade for the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, and remained an inspiring and capable leader of his flock in Gaza. 

Like Ambongo, however, Pizzaballa is relatively young: he is just 60 years old, and has been a cardinal for just under two years. 

Cardinal Robert Sarah, 79, from Guinea, is barely eligible to vote in conclave – he turns 80 in June. He is the Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

A convert to Catholicism in his youth, Sarah is known for his defense of traditional Church teaching and practices.

Sarah was close with Pope Benedict XVI; the former pontiff wrote the afterword to Sarah’s 2016 book, The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise. 

Cardinal Luis Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, is a native of the Philippines. 

Tagle, 67, was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 2012. For the 2013 conclave, when he was then the young Metropolitan Archbishop of Manila, he was listed among the papabili – something that obviously did not come to fruition, but is worth noting. 

In 2022, however, Tagle was dismissed as the head of Caritas International, which may make people wary of supporting him at this conclave.

If elected, he would become the first Asian pope.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, 76, of Ghana, has worked in various curial positions since 2009. 

Currently he is the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, but was previously the Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. 

Prior to his arrival in the Vatican, Turkson was the Archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana, from 1992 until 2009. 

Like Tagle, Turkson was also discussed as papabile back in the 2013 conclave.

Virtually unheard of in North American circles until his special peace mission on behalf of Pope Francis that brought him to Washington, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the archbishop of Bologna and the president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, has been suggested as someone who could be the next pope. 

Zuppi, 69, was Pope Francis' pick to lead the Italian bishops’ conference. Prior to becoming the archbishop of Bologna, Zuppi was an auxiliary bishop of Rome. 

If elected, Zuppi would be the first Italian pope since Pope John Paul I’s 33-day reign in 1978.