The Archbishop of Sao Paulo, Cardinal Dom Odilo Scherer, said on Sunday (4), that the next pontiff will not be a “xerox” of Pope Francis. The speech comes days before the beginning of the conclave, next Wednesday (7), where cardinals will choose the new leader of the Catholic Church.
“The next Pope will not be a Xerox of Pope Francis. The boy who was going to be beatified and canonized, Carlo Acutis said that God does not like photocopy, God likes originals. So every Pope is one, has his own way, has his own culture, and his own character,” said Don Odilo Scherer during an interview in Rome.
The cardinal stressed that there will be continuity and discontinuity regarding Francisco’s ideals and policies. “Discontinuity because it is no longer the same pope that is in front of it, it is another Pope. Now, continuity is the care of the Church, the care of the mission of the Church, the concerns about evangelization. … So the Pope will be someone who will be concerned with promoting evangelization, the mission of the Church,” he said.
Don Odilo also revealed what qualities the cardinals seek in a new Pope: “(…) Of course one is expected of the pope of great capacity for leadership, of great spiritual capacity, a man of deep faith and evidently of a man who has a great sense of charity, a great human sensitivity to the various situations of pain and suffering that humanity lives.”
The Conclave will be attended by 133 cardinals voters, and about 80% of them were appointed by Francisco. However, many come from outside Italy and do not know each other, raising the concern that the vote could be prolonged.
Don Odilo, however, rejects this concern and says that the cardinals know themselves enough to vote: “Cardinals know themselves enough to vote. Besides, it is not now that they are thinking about who to vote. This is already more time. The cardinals have ideas formed. It’s not that they have their heads empty, right?
When asked about the direction of the general congregations, meetings that the cardinals are holding to discuss themes and the profile of the next Pope, Dom Odilo states: “Let’s let us surprise.”
*With the collaboration of Gina Marques
This content was originally published in “Next Pope will not be a Xerox of Francis,” says Dom Odilo Scherer on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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