A ‘continuity’ pick, the possible first Asian pope or first black pontiff in centuries are among likely contenders
Harriet Sherwood at The Guardian:
Predicting the outcome of the highly secretive papal conclave is near impossible as cardinals’ positions shift over successive votes and some try to game the system to influence the chances of their favoured – or least-favoured – candidates. In the last conclave in 2013, few predicted that Jorge Mario Bergoglio would be elected as Pope Francis.
Pietro Parolin, 70, Italy
Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, the Philippines
Peter Turkson, 76, Ghana
Péter Erdő, 72, Hungary
Matteo Zuppi, 69, Italy
José Tolentino Calaça de Mendonça, 59, Portugal
Mario Grech, 68, Malta
Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 60, Italy
Robert Sarah, 79, Guinea
The top candidates to succeed Pope Francis as the next pontiff of the Catholic Church at the papa conclave are likely to be Pietro Parolin, Péter Erdő, Luis Antonio Tagle, and Peter Turkson.
See Also:
The Guardian: Conclave: the Vatican’s secret process for choosing a new pope
AP, via HuffPost: These Cardinals Are Seen As Contenders To Be The Next Pope
