An authoritative voice in Vatican affairs has listed Archbishop Charles Scicluna as being among the candidates for the papacy, in spite of not yet being a cardinal.
Although it is normal for popes to be cardinals at the time of their appointment to the highest position in the Catholic Church, it is possible for the College of Cardinals to select someone else.
And Mgr Scicluna has been named as one possibility in an article written by the editor of Crux Now John Allen, considered to be “the most authoritative writer on Vatican affairs in the English language”. Crux Now is an online newspaper that focuses on news related to the Catholic Church. From September 2014 until March 2016, it was owned by The Boston Globe. Since April 2016, it has been independently owned.
In his article “After synod, who’s the talk of Rome to be the next pope?”, Allen analyses the aftermath of the Synod of Bishops which was held last month. The synod, he says, is “just about the only time, at least in the early phases of the race, that all the “candidates” to become the next pope are on display for an extended period of time, which means it tends to be a moment when Church-watchers get into the traditional parlor game of speculation about what, and who, might come next.”
Pope Francis, who succeeded Pope Benedict XVI who abdicated, turns 82 next month and has often hinted that his health is failing him.
“It’s a myth to assert that one can never see the next pope coming. In the last six papal elections, a real surprise only prevailed twice — Angelo Roncalli as John XXII in 1958, and Karol Wojtyla as John Paul II in 1978,” Allen writes.
He then goes on to list three cardinals as being the most likely candidates for the job: Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Italian, 63; Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Austrian, 73 and Cardinal Sean O’Malley, American, 74.
But the list does not stop here: “Beyond those conventional choices,” Allen writes, “the October 2018 synod also put a couple of other personalities on the radar as possible popes, even if neither man is yet a cardinal.
“The first is Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, who, despite being remarkably short in physical stature, left a large impression. He’s been the Vatican’s top prosecutor on sex abuse and the pope’s lead man in Chile, but that’s not his only issue. Scicluna generally came off as smart, informed, multilingual, and the real deal as a “reformer.”
The second name Allen mentioned is Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney, Australia.
“Time will tell if the 2018 synod was the turning point for either one, but don’t dismiss the possibility,” Allen concludes.
Scicluna is seen in high regard in Rome, and only today it was announced that he has been given another appointment at the Vatican.
The full article may be read here