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Potential pope candidates arsenic conclave begins
Vatican City — Of the 266 popes who person led the Catholic Church, not 1 of them has been from the United States. While the comparative younker of the federation means less than 20 of those men served aft the U.S. Declaration of Independence successful 1776, 1 salient U.S. bishop has a imaginable mentation for the deficiency of an American person of the world's Catholics up until now.
Robert Barron, bishop of the Diocese of Winona–Rochester successful Minnesota, was appointed little than a week agone by President Trump to the caller White House Commission connected Religious Liberty.
This week, however, he's astatine the Vatican with hundreds of different prelates arsenic the cardinal electors stitchery for the conclave to take a caller pontiff to win Pope Francis.
Barron has spent days speaking with the cardinals — including the 133 cardinal electors tasked with electing the caller pope — arsenic they effort to fig retired among themselves who is champion to pb the religion next.
"Cardinal George of Chicago, of blessed memory, was 1 of my large mentors, and helium said: 'Look, until America goes into governmental decline, determination won't beryllium an American pope.' And his constituent was, if America is benignant of moving the satellite politically, culturally, economically, they don't privation America moving the satellite religiously. So, I deliberation there's immoderate information to that, that we're specified a superpower and truthful dominant, they don't wanna springiness us, also, power implicit the church."
That said, 1 American sanction has popped up repeatedly amid the gossip implicit starring contenders for the relation of pontiff: Cardinal Robert Prevost.
He is undoubtedly qualified, arsenic the lone wide qualifications for the relation of pontiff are that candidates beryllium antheral and Roman Catholic. But emerging connected top, with the indispensable backing of conscionable implicit two-thirds of the voting cardinal electors, volition necessitate acold much than conscionable eligibility.
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost leads rosary prayers for the wellness of Pope Francis successful St Peter's Square connected March 3, 2025 successful Vatican City.
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Originally from Chicago, Prevost is the caput of the church's Dicastery for Bishops. The almighty presumption means helium oversees the enactment of caller bishops.
For immoderate cardinal electors who whitethorn beryllium turned disconnected by Prevost's American nationality, it's not his lone one. He's a dual citizen, holding nationality successful some the U.S. and Peru, wherever helium served for galore years.
While Prevost is seen wide arsenic a centrist, connected immoderate cardinal societal issues he's viewed arsenic progressive. He has agelong embraced marginalized groups, a batch similar Francis, who championed migrants and the poor.
But, besides similar Pope Francis, the Illinois autochthonal opposes ordaining women arsenic deacons, for instance, truthful connected that constituent he's seen arsenic blimpish connected religion doctrine.
Tucker Reals contributed to this report.
Chris Livesay is simply a CBS News overseas analogous based successful Rome.
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