MS Explains: Pope Francis dies at age 88, what comes next?
When Pope Francis was announced dead at age 88 on Easter Monday (21 April), the news shocked not only Catholics but the world.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, announced the news from the Pope’s residence at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, saying:
Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.
In February 2025, the head of the Catholic Church was hospitalised with bronchitis, which caused his health to further decline in the months that followed.
Pope Francis — born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina — was the first South American Pope since the first Pope, Saint Peter, nearly 2,000 years ago and the first non-European in over a millennium.
The Catholic Church is now looking to elect its new leader, with rumours of a rare Asian candidate.
How will the new Pope be selected?
15 to 20 days after the death of a Pope, cardinals gather in a conclave — an assembly for the election of a new pontiff.
While there are more than 250 cardinals around the world, only 120 of them are allowed to vote.
After the funeral rites and mass for the deceased Pope, the cardinals head to the Sistine Chapel, where they swear to secrecy and close the doors to the public.
Source: Reuters via ABC
They then vote through a ballot, after which their votes are recorded and read aloud until a candidate receives two-thirds of the votes.
The public is made aware of the outcome through smoke signals from burning ballots: White smoke means a new Pope has been elected, while black means another round of voting is needed.
Once a new head of the Catholic Church is chosen, the dean of the College of Cardinals asks him if he accepts the title.
He then dresses and picks his papal name before walking out to the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to greet the crowd.
Possible candidates for papacy
The next Pope can be any baptised Catholic male, but since 1378, only cardinals — special bishops or Vatican officials who serve as the Pope’s counsellors — have been selected for the role.
These cardinals can be visually distinguished by their red cloaks.
When the Holy See — the central governing body of the Catholic Church — is vacant, Vatican analysts come out with a list of papabile, or possible candidates for papacy.
According to the College of Cardinals report, these are the cardinals “most frequently discussed in Rome and elsewhere”.
Some popular cardinals included in these lists are Péter Erdő from Hungary, Pietro Parolin from Italy, and Luis Antonio Tagle from the Philippines — considered conservative-, moderate-, and progressive-leaning, respectively.
Cardinals Péter Erdő, Petro Parolin and Luis Antonio Tagle. Source: Wikimedia Commons
However, analysts do not always make accurate guesses.
As one Vatican saying goes: “He who enters a conclave as a Pope, leaves it as a cardinal”, meaning expectations are often overturned.
Another thing to note is an old saying about papal elections stating “a fat Pope follows a thin one”, which means the succeeding pontiff is often the complete opposite of his predecessor.
Historically, a liberal leader is followed by a conservative one, and vice versa.
Can a Singaporean be Pope?
Vatican analysts believe that it is possible Pope Francis’ successor would come from outside Europe.
That said, most Popes have originated from the continent, with 217 of 266 having come from Italy alone.
Lawrence Chong, a Singaporean consultant at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, once told Yahoo Philippines there was an “Asianization” in the College of Cardinals during Pope Francis’ tenure.
The late Pope had appointed 140 cardinals from outside Europe, narrowing the gap in representation among cardinals.
Besides the Philippines’ Tagle, a 2022 article in The Catholic Herald also named William Goh Seng Chye as a papabile, citing the first Singaporean cardinal’s appointment by Pope Francis as an endorsement.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Goh — who will be voting in the upcoming conclave — has not been included in recent papabile lists, but Pope Francis himself was not on many papabile lists in 2013 as he was believed to be too old for the role.
If either Goh or Tagle, or any of the current Asian cardinals, becomes pontiff, he would be the first modern-day Asian Pope.
However, Mr Chong previously noted that the “big, influential” voting blocs in the conclave are still in Europe and the Americas, making it unlikely for an Asian Pope to take the vacant seat.
It remains to be seen who’ll be the next head of the Catholic Church, after 12 years under the leadership of the late Pope Francis.
Also read: Pope Francis dies at 88, delivered Easter greeting just a day before his passing
Pope Francis dies at 88, delivered Easter greeting just a day before his passing
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Featured image adapted from Vatican News.
