ROME, April 30. /TASS/. European cardinals have more chances to become the new head of the Roman Catholic Church than Americans or representatives of distant corners of the planet, Marco Politi, an Italian journalist and writer specializing in Vatican news and politics, said in an interview with a TASS correspondent.
"Certain instructions in this sense were given by Francis himself. <...> His wish was to bring the divided Church to greater unity," the expert said, noting that this division is largely the result of Francis' own pontificate.
"In the last ten years, there has been a real civil war within the Roman Catholic Church, because ultra-conservative groups have launched a crusade against Pope Francis on all internal issues. He has allowed communion for the divorced and remarried, blessings for non-traditional sexual minorities. Francis has said that everyone is a child of God. Under him, women took leadership positions in church structures for the first time; women were given the right to vote in a synod of bishops for the first time, something that had not happened in 1,700 years. From this point of view, the church is very fragmented," Politi recalled.
Another important aspect of the future conclave, in his opinion, is the task of restoring functionality to the central apparatus of government. "Francis has always governed autonomously, even on his own," Politi noted. In his opinion, the cardinals will be looking for a new head of the church, who would be well versed in the mechanisms of the curia, more in line with the profile of a manager, representative of the institution of the church. "That's why among the favorites are Europeans or Italians, because they are more familiar with the central apparatus and know how to manage from the center a world reality of almost 1.4 billion believers," the journalist pointed out.
Difficult choice
Of the 135 cardinal electors from 71 countries (133 will participate in the conclave), 108 were appointed by Francis. This aspect, although emphasized by many observers, is not decisive, according to Politi. "It is not true that all the cardinals appointed by Francis necessarily share his line. He chose them for their personal qualities and merits. They are bishops from the periphery, they may be good shepherds, but they are only familiar with their own reality and do not know the whole Church in a comprehensive, global perspective. Moreover, many of the cardinals do not know each other well; how often can cardinals from distant places - from the islands of Tonga or Laos - communicate with other cardinals about the general state of the church or geopolitical conditions. All this complicates this conclave," the expert explained.
A certain complexity is also represented by the large number of cardinals, 133, because the quorum is high: 89 votes. "It is much more difficult to reach unanimity than when 60 votes were needed (two-thirds of those voting)," he added.
The conclave (closed election of the Pope) will begin on May 7. It will elect the 267th pope for life. Francis died on April 21 at the age of 88.