Read the RFA cover of this subject in Burma.
Several eminent cardinals in Asia are considered by the faithful of the region as worthy candidates to direct the 1.4 billion Catholics of the world.
Pope Francis, who led the Catholic church for 12 years, died on Monday at the age of 88. A papal conclave is expected to the Vatican in the next 15 to 20 days to elect his successor.
Many countries have eminent candidates, including cardinals who oversee the dioceses in Asia – Sri Lanka, South Korea, the Philippines and the Civil War Riven Myanmar. An Asian pope would be a first for the church.
Supporters of an Asian pope say that the election of an Asian chief of the Church would have a symbolic and strategic meaning, reflecting the rapid growth of Catholicism through the region and strengthening the change of the Church towards a more global identity.
Going up to the papacy requires the votes of 90 of the 135 cardinals eligible to participate in the Vatican conclave.
Charles Maung Bo, born in the northwest sagaing region of Myanmar, presided over the diocese of Lashio in the northern state of Shan from the country from 1986 to 2003, when he was appointed Archbishop of Yangon. He was appointed Cardinal by Pope Francis in 2015.
Sources close to the 76 -year -old Cardinal told the RFA Burmese that the Cardinal College could promote a candidate with a diplomatic approach and focused on humanitarian aid similar to Pope Francis.
Catholics represent approximately 1.0% of the population of the Buddhist majority of Myanmar.
Charles Maung Bo became more important in 2021 after the country’s military coup when he called for a peaceful solution to armed uprisings across the country.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia in 2023, he described the ethnically diverse people in the myanmar “brothers and sisters” and called on all sides to lay their weapons.
“Weapons generate more firearms. The bullets cause more bullets. If violence is confronted with violence, this will only be more violence,” he said. “We all, whatever our side, all those who are armed, should deposit our weapons and be from the family.”
In Sri Lanka, another Buddhist majority country, Malcolm Ranjith, 77, is the archbishop of Colombo, the national capital.
Others have hypothesized that the next pope could come from South Korea, where around 30% of the population is Christian, or the Philippines, a country of Catholic majority.
The 74-year-old Cardinal in South Korea Lazzaro, you Heung-Sik, was in sight for a period of growth in the Catholic population of South Korea and large financial contributions to the Vatican of the South Korean faithful. He became a cardinal in 2022 and played roles in the Vatican.
The Luis Antonio Tagle of the 67 -year -old Philippines, was often compared to Pope Francis and appointed by certain Church observers as a favorite of the Fire the Pope for his humanitarian and progressive social opinions on questions such as migration and homosexual marriage. However, it can be too young for the conclave, which generally selects a candidate in the 1970s.
Thanks to history, 266 popes recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, from Saint-Pierre, considered the first pope, to Pope Francis, who became the 266th pontiff in 2013.
Historically, no Pope of Asian origin has ever directed the Catholic Church.
At the end of 2023, Asia housed around 121 million Catholics, representing 11% of the world’s Catholic population, which totaled around 1.4 billion. This represents growth of 0.6% compared to the previous year.
The Philippines and India are the bastions of the Catholic population of Asia, with 93 million and 23 million Catholics respectively, including more than three quarters of the region’s total.
Published by Tajun Kang, Mike Firn and Stephen Wright.