2025 Papal Conclave: Asia

 Another region which has never had a Cardinal elevated to the Papacy.   A region where Catholicism (and Christianity, in general) has a rather weak to outright dubious claim to hearts.  Roman Catholicism is in direct conflict with other forms of Orthodox Christianity across Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Cyrus and by political association the nations of the former Soviet Union.  The pantheon of other faiths are myriad: Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Ibadi Islam, Wahhabi Islam, Theravada Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Shintoism, Taoism, Animism and related folk religions, growing number of atheists and even Jewish sects (most notably in Israel).  Early Catholic missionaries left bad blood (and just a whole lot of blood) in places like India, Taiwan and Japan.  Today only one nation stands out as predominantly Catholic and that is the Philippines.  South Korea is 25% Christian, but predominantly of Protestant and Evangelical sects. 

 Of the 22 Cardinals headed to Rome for the Conclave, some have interesting stories and connections to the Roman Catholic Church, but only one is receiving any serious press vis a vis a possible Asian Pope.  Of those who are just interesting to me Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa of Jerusalem is perhaps top of my list.  Pizzaballa is a Friar of the Franciscan order and the Custos of the Holy Land.  A custodian priory is housed in the Monastery of Saint Saviour in the heart of old Jerusalem.  It was founded in 1217 by St. Francis himself, though the current monastery was built in the 1500's.  Cardinal Pizzaballa (Pizza Dancer?) is the first head of this order to be named a Cardinal.  

Two of the Indian Cardinals caught my attention.  Cardinal Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão of Goa.  What a magnificent name!  And it's certainly not Patel or Chaudhary!  It's a name you'd more likely expect on a Cardinal from Brazil or Lisbon.  And it speaks to the centuries old roots of Goa as a Portuguese enclave on the southwestern coast of India.  The other is Cardinal Besalios Cleemis. Besides being a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Cleemis is also the Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, a church that was originally founded by St. Thomas according to Church tradition and only later came into communion with the Roman Catholic Church.  As such, he will be wearing a unique costume to the party.

But the bell of the ball from Asia is Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle from the Philippines.  He is ranked 3rd in authority among the Cardinals.  (Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana is ranked 7th).  He has rizz writ-large!  To hear him speak, to watch him in crowds, he would easily become "beloved".  At 67, he is not the choice that some have predicted; that of an interim Pope.  Someone to allow the church to take a breath from the policies of Francis as it contemplates its next steps.  It's a quaint notion for an institution that has a reputation of being anything but guileless.  That scenario would select someone like Turkson, who is 76 and then hopes he only lives to be 86!  But Tagle at 67, could easily lead the church for 10, 15 or even 20+ years.  To choose Tagle would be to set the direction forward.  And it would be a direction of which Pope Francis would approve.  Personally, I like the guy.