As 133 cardinal electors gather in the Sistine Chapel tomorrow to begin the process of choosing a new Pope, there will be many considerations in their minds. They will be weighing up whether to build on or reject Francis’ legacy of progressive reform, whether to move in a more liberal or conservative direction, and whether to return the papacy to its Italian roots, opt for another European, or build on the precedent of the Latin American Francis and branch out to the wider world. Could this be the moment for an Asian or African pope?
Persecution of Catholics – and Christians more broadly – has intensified in China over the past decade
Amidst all these questions, there is one which may well be pivotal: what to do about China? Throughout his twelve-year pontificate, Francis led the Vatican firmly in pursuit of rapprochement with Beijing – one of the few areas in his papacy where he sided with the State instead of the persecuted.
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