Expert analyzes what the next Pope will be like

The Spanish journalist and writer Javier Martínez-Brocal argues that the next Pope should be a leader capable of joining a church marked by diversity and global challenges.

In an interview with ACI Press, Martínez-Brocal, ABC correspondent in the Vatican and author of the books “The Successor” and “Coclave, stresses that the choice of Peter’s successor will be guided by two priorities that Pope Francis left in her spiritual testament: peace in the world and fraternity between the peoples.

According to the Vaticanist, the cardinals face the difficult task of identifying a pontiff that embodies these values ​​and that, in addition to being deeply spiritual, is a visible reference of reconciliation both within the Church and before global society

“I think the cardinals have a very difficult job because they must find someone who has these two characteristics,” he said. In addition, he stressed that not only the Catholic Church, but that “the world needs a Pope who is an icon of fraternity, of spirituality, with the feet on the ground and head and heart in heaven. It must be a very spiritual person, but also an icon.”

The cardinals

Martínez-Brocal explained that the choice of cardinals is not based solely on finding a “very good” person to be Peter’s next successor, but on identifying someone who meets certain specific characteristics.

Therefore, he said, his task before the conclave is to analyze “what is the situation of the world, what is the situation of the Church.” Therefore, the chosen one must be a leader who “is an icon of those needs and the response to those needs.”

Among the keys to his choice, he added, the Pope prioritized two aspects. The first “that in the conclave were not represented only the problems of the West. That the problems of the entire Church were represented. Of Papua New Guinea, of the Catholics of Africa, of the Catholics of Asia, where Christians are a minority and need to dialogue with society.”

The second is that they were “very active and missionary”, that is, bishops who “were not in their office, but helped the church in the street, speaking with people and with a very direct contact with reality … that go out to look for people, who do not wait for people to come.”

Conservative or liberals?

On the alleged internal divisions, Martínez-Brocal prefers not to typecast the cardinals in political labels. He explained that some are more supporters of “speaking to the church inward”, while others believe that the Church must “go out to talk to those who are far.”

“There are sectors that think that what you have to do is put order inside the church, while others consider that it is best to go out to help those outside and that they can enter,” he explained.

According to the journalist, every cardinal combines both sensibilities, although it usually gives more weight to one of them.

A Pope open to the media

For the journalist, a virtue that the next pontiff needs is “to speak with the media, that is not afraid to communicate, because the media help him take his message to everyone.”

“That he does not lock himself in the Vatican, but helps to understand his gestures and decisions, explain,” he added

Finally, he stressed that the new Pope should be someone who “gives hope, and that at this time of the Catholic Church also helps to reconcile, so to speak, the two souls of the Church: the people considered conservative and those considered liberals. It will be a pope of unity.”