Conclave to elect next Pope begins May 7

Cardinals will gather beginning May 7, 2025 to elect the next Bishop of Rome. Who will he be? What will he be? How will he be?

Historically, popes choose a name which tells us much about this: continuity with the past, a drawing together of ideas, a retrieval, or something completely new. What would it mean if the next pope took the name Paul VII? Or John XXIV? Benedict XVII? John Paul III? And what if we dug even further back: Leo XIV? Pius XIII?

Then, of course, we might have a Francis II.

Francis himself was new—changing aspects of who the pope was (from the global south), what he was (a Jesuit), and how he was (a man who walked in worn black shoes across borders, boundaries, and war zones).

Let’s pray for the Church, and may all the world join in our prayers, for a pope who will be one with the people, and one who draws all Christians, and all people, to peace.