Skip to content
August 27, 2025
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • tiktok
MILLENNIUM NEWS 24/7

MILLENNIUM NEWS 24/7

Bridging The Community’s World Wide

  • Home
  • IP TV LIVE
  • PODCAST
  • U.S.News
  • LOCAL ELECTION
  • State News
    • Alabama
    • Alaska
    • Arizona
    • Arkansas
    • California
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Hawaii
    • Idaho
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Kentucky
    • Louisiana
    • Maryland
    • Massachusetts
    • Michigan
    • Maine
    • Minnesota
    • Mississippi
    • Missouri
    • Montana
    • Nebraska
    • Nevada
    • New Hampshire
    • New Jersey
    • New Mexico
    • New York
    • North Carolina
    • North Dakota
    • Oregon
    • Pennsylvania
    • Rhode Island
    • South Carolina
    • South Dakota
    • Tennessee
    • Texas
    • Virginia
    • Washington
    • West Virginia
    • U.S. Virgin Islands
  • Politics
  • World News
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Weather
  • Business
  • Health News
  • ADVERTISEMENT
  • About Us
  • Contact us
Live TV

Who are the contenders to be pope? They include a theologian, a diplomat and a simple street priest

There are no official candidates for the papacy, but some cardinals are considered “papabile,” or possessing the characteristics necessary to become pope. After St. John Paul II broke the centurieslong Italian hold on the papacy in 1978, the field of contenders has broadened considerably.

When the cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel on May 7 to choose a successor to Pope Francis, the first pontiff from Latin America, they will be looking above all for a holy man who can guide the Catholic Church. Beyond that, they will weigh his administrative and pastoral experience and consider what the church needs today.

Here is a selection of possible contenders, in no particular order. The list will be updated as cardinals continue their closed-door, preconclave discussions.

 

Cardinal Pietro Parolin

Date of Birth: Jan. 17, 1955

Nationality: Italian

Position: Vatican secretary of state under Francis

Experience: Veteran Vatican diplomat

Made a cardinal by: Francis

The 70-year-old veteran diplomat was Francis’ secretary of state, essentially the Holy See’s prime minister.

Though associated closely with Francis’ pontificate, Parolin is much more demure in personality and diplomatic in his approach to leading than the Argentine Jesuit he served and he knows where the Catholic Church might need a course correction.

Parolin oversaw the Holy See’s controversial deal with China over bishop nominations and was involved — but not charged — in the Vatican’s botched investment in a London real estate venture that led to a 2021 trial of another cardinal and nine others. A former ambassador to Venezuela, Parolin knows the Latin American church well and played a key role in the 2014 U.S.-Cuba detente, which the Vatican helped facilitate.

If he were elected, he would return an Italian to the papacy after three successive outsiders: St. John Paul II (Poland), Pope Benedict XVI (Germany) and Francis (Argentina).

But Parolin has very little pastoral experience: He entered the seminary at age 14, four years after his father was killed in a car accident. After his 1980 ordination, he spent two years as a parish priest near his hometown in northern Italy, but then went to Rome to study and entered the Vatican diplomatic service, where he has remained ever since. He has served at Vatican embassies in Nigeria, Mexico and Venezuela.

He is widely respected for his diplomatic finesse on some of the thorniest dossiers facing the Catholic Church. He has long been involved in the China file, and he played a hands-on role in the Holy See’s diplomatic rapprochement with Vietnam that resulted in an agreement to establish a resident Vatican representative in the country.

Parolin was also the Vatican’s point-person in its frustrated efforts to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. He has tried to make the church’s voice heard as the Trump administration began working to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“Let’s hope we can arrive at a peace that, in order to be solid, lasting, must be a just peace, must involve all the actors who are at stake and take into account the principles of international law and the UN declarations,” he said.

Parolin might find the geopolitical reality ushered in by the Trump administration somewhat unreceptive to the Holy See’s soft power.

— By Nicole Winfield in Vatican City

About Author

Habib Habib

See author's posts

Post navigation

Previous Florida leads as state and local governments sign on for Trump’s mass deportations
Next Ukraine and the US have finally signed a minerals deal. What does it include?

Related Stories

James Cameron on two decades of making ‘Avatar’ and the future he sees for movies

James Cameron on two decades of making ‘Avatar’ and the future he sees for movies

Katy Perry testifies that she’s seeking ‘justice’ at trial over $15 million mansion

Katy Perry testifies that she’s seeking ‘justice’ at trial over $15 million mansion

A look at Uganda, the east African nation where the US is set to deport Abrego Garcia

A look at Uganda, the east African nation where the US is set to deport Abrego Garcia

Entertainment

James Cameron on two decades of making ‘Avatar’ and the future he sees for movies 1

James Cameron on two decades of making ‘Avatar’ and the future he sees for movies

Katy Perry testifies that she’s seeking ‘justice’ at trial over $15 million mansion 2

Katy Perry testifies that she’s seeking ‘justice’ at trial over $15 million mansion

Lil Nas X charged with attacking police officers as he walked naked on Los Angeles street 3

Lil Nas X charged with attacking police officers as he walked naked on Los Angeles street

Pennsylvania’s Chautauqua is a summertime haven for lifelong learners 4

Pennsylvania’s Chautauqua is a summertime haven for lifelong learners

Mariah the Scientist’s ‘Hearts Sold Separately’ mixes love potions and pensive emotions 5

Mariah the Scientist’s ‘Hearts Sold Separately’ mixes love potions and pensive emotions

At the Pennsylvania Chautauqua, the ‘good use of leisure time’ is an art form 6

At the Pennsylvania Chautauqua, the ‘good use of leisure time’ is an art form

Brent Hinds, former Mastodon singer-guitarist, dies at 51 in motorcycle crash 7

Brent Hinds, former Mastodon singer-guitarist, dies at 51 in motorcycle crash

Top News

James Cameron on two decades of making ‘Avatar’ and the future he sees for movies

James Cameron on two decades of making ‘Avatar’ and the future he sees for movies

Katy Perry testifies that she’s seeking ‘justice’ at trial over $15 million mansion

Katy Perry testifies that she’s seeking ‘justice’ at trial over $15 million mansion

A look at Uganda, the east African nation where the US is set to deport Abrego Garcia

A look at Uganda, the east African nation where the US is set to deport Abrego Garcia

Israeli military says strikes on Gaza hospital targeted a Hamas camera, without providing evidence

Israeli military says strikes on Gaza hospital targeted a Hamas camera, without providing evidence

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • tiktok
Editor: Nur M Tofader, Home Office: 250 Park Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10177 Tell: 718 893 0002 (Office), 7188441300, +1212 401 6266, e-mail: Info@millenniuamtv24.com, e-mail: Info@millenniuamnews24.com, Copyright © Millennium News 24/7 | DarkNews by AF themes.