Pope’s College of Cardinals is becoming less European

Pope Francis represented a significant break from previous Popes. Although of Italian descent, the Pope comes from Latin America and this has clearly shaped his more liberal perspective and general worldview. His background in Argentina – a country where Indigenous communities suffered greatly – may also help the Pope with his visit of reconciliation to Canada next week, as he looks to mend bridges with Indigenous communities there.

While it is often remarked upon that the College of Cardinals increasingly reflects the Pope’s more liberal leanings and represents an attempt by the Pontiff to secure his legacy, (a sizeable majority of those who are eligible to vote in a conclave were appointed by the Pope), it is an obviously less European affair now as well, perhaps befitting for a Church whose membership is increasingly concentrated in the Americas and Global South. 

The Pope recently announced the creation of 21 new Cardinals, most of them from outside Europe. The College of Cardinals currently consists of 207 Cardinals, of whom 116 are electors. As of August 27, that number will grow to 228 Cardinals, of whom 132 will be electors for a new Pope. Eight of the new Cardinals will be from Europe, six from Asia, two from Africa, one from North America, with four from Central and Latin America. After this latest group is installed, 40 per cent of voting members will be European, a drop of 12 per cent since 2013, according to Jeff Diamant at the Pew Research Center. The percentage of North Americans has also fallen over the same period from 12 to 11 per cent.

The Pope’s appointments (including the recently announced Cardinals) have increased representation from the Asia-Pacific region within the College of Cardinals from 9 per cent in 2013 to 17 per cent in 2022, while increasing the representation of sub-Saharan African Catholics from 9 per cent to 12 per cent. These figures include Cardinals who were named by Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Of the newly appointed or currently eligible voting Cardinals which Pope Francis has named, 34 per cent are from Europe, 22 per cent from the Asia-Pacific, 20 per cent from Latin America and the Caribbean, 13 per cent from sub-Saharan Africa, 8 per cent from North America, and 2 per cent from North Africa and the Middle East. 

But while European and North American Catholics are still overrepresented in the College of Cardinals (24 per cent of all Catholics live in Europe and 8 per cent in North America), after recent appointments this is also true for Asia-Pacific Catholics (who represent 12 per cent of all Catholics). Latin American and Caribbean Catholics, and Sub-Saharan African Catholics, are still however underrepresented. Since the Pope came to office, the percentage of Latin American and Caribbean Catholics in the College of Cardinals rose from 16 per cent to 18 per cent, although just under 40 per cent of all Catholics live in that region. Meanwhile 16 per cent of all Catholics live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Still, this attempt at more accurate representation will not go unnoticed among global Catholics, even as the European Church is itself tilting more and more towards conservative-nationalist central and eastern Europe, while a future Pope from the region could energise the culture war already underway on the old Continent. But just as with efforts at outreach with Indigenous communities, or the recent moves to clean up Vatican finances by placing all investments under the control of a special committee, this all seems designed to secure the legacy of the Pope as he looks towards a successor.

The struggle for the Church will be how to balance the different interpretations of faith among the faithful, and reconcile what the Church means to different Catholics in different regions. For many Catholics in central and eastern Europe, for example, the Church is tied up with their conservative politics and nationalism. For many in Latin America, their faith is bound up with Liberation Theology and socialism. Will a future Pope meanwhile continue the current Pope’s work at developing a more representative and inclusive Church? Moreover, will the Church be able to stay as relatively quiet as it has about the oppression of Catholics and other Christians in different parts of the world? Only time will tell. But one thing is for sure: the College of Cardinals is being remade in a way which reflects back a less European and more international worldwide body of Catholics.

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