07-05-2025
The Vote for the Next Pope Is Also a Referendum on Francis
They buried him. They mourned him. And they have gathered to pick his successor. But it's still all about Pope Francis.
More than two weeks after Francis died, the cardinals who will begin voting in the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday to pick the next pope have been signaling whether they want to follow Francis' lead, turn back or find some compromise between the two.
In homilies, public and private conversations, and most of all in remarks to their fellow cardinals in daily meetings behind the Vatican walls, the people who will choose the next pope have been holding what amounts to a referendum on Francis' legacy. They have also been considering whether they want to perpetuate the so-called 'Francis effect,' the idea that a charismatic, inclusive person of moral conscience on the geopolitical stage might draw new followers and lure lapsed Catholics back into the church.
'There are various wishes' within the group, said Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Sweden, who has been mentioned as a potential candidate for pope. Some want to elect a pontiff 'who can follow in the footsteps of Francis. Some others said, 'No, no. Not at all.''
