As Catholics mourn the death of Pope Francis and reflect on the pontiff’s legacy as a reformer, questions are emerging about who might follow the 266th leader of the church.
Cardinals from across the globe will soon gather under a shroud of secrecy at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City to decide who’s best equipped to solve the challenges facing the Catholic Church and guide 1.4 billion Catholic people. But where will the next pope come from? Where will he stand on wide-reaching Catholic debates?
Ordinary members of the church won’t get a say in the decision. But when asked about what priorities they would want from a new pope, Catholic people who spoke to the USA TODAY Network just hours after Francis’ death were deeply divided.
Some expressed a desire for Francis’ successor to build on the progress he made, particularly around the inclusion of women and LGBTQ+ people. Others said they wanted the next pope to maintain the church’s more conservative policies on topics like abortion.
A progressive pope?
During his decade-long tenure at the top of the Catholic Church, Francis became known as the “People’s Pope” for championing the poor and reforming some of the church’s traditions that critics called archaic.
Francis said in a 2018 interview with Reuters that President Donald Trump‘s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement had pained him “because the future of humanity is at stake”
The pope also sparred with political leaders over their treatment of immigrants. On Easter, during his last public appearance, the pope called for peace and asked officials “not to yield to the logic of fear.”
He passed a measure allowing women to serve in administrative roles for the first time and urged the acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, saying in 2023 that “being homosexual isn’t a crime.”
While he never fully bucked church teachings on the two issues, it wasn’t the first time he spoke out about them.
“Homosexual people have a right to be in a family,” Francis said in a 2020 documentary that called for same-sex couples to be protected by civil union laws. “They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it.”
In Massachusetts, which is home to one of the largest Catholic populations in the country, residents overwhelmingly told the USA TODAY Network they hope the next pope will be similar to Francis.
“He transcended religion. He really welcomed everyone to the church,” said Carl Sawejko, 67, who founded a telecommunications company in southern Massachusetts called Sawejko Enterprises. He said he served as an alter boy at a church in Swansea, Massachusetts, as a child.
Others, including 28-year-old Julia Mitrano, a medical student at the University of Massachusetts, said they want a new pope who will go further and push for sweeping changes in the church, including by recognizing same-sex marriage.
“I would love the next pope to be even more progressive than Pope Francis,” said Mitrano, who describes herself as an ex-Catholic.
The Nahant, Massachusetts, native is among a not-so-small population of people in the U.S. who say they were confirmed in Catholicism but no longer practice. Many people who have left the church cite dissatisfaction with Catholic teachings, particularly around social issues like same-sex marriage, as a key reason.
A 2024 Pew Research study found that a majority of U.S. Catholics believe women should be allowed to become priests (64%) and that the church should recognize the marriages of gay couples (54%).
“The Catholic Church is so behind times right now, and it already is so problematic that any, like, minuscule step forward I’ll take at this point,” Mitrano said of her hopes for reform. “Hopefully eventually they’ll be more accepting of everybody else.”
Someone who can understand the ‘complexities’ of the moment
Not all Catholics who said they revered Francis told the USA TODAY Network they wanted his successor to work toward more progressive church reforms.
Paulette Harrigal, 79, learned of the pope’s death at a church service in Westerville, Ohio, located northwest of Columbus. She called the late pope “a blessing.”
“I’m going to start praying for all the cardinals to make the right selection,” Harrigal said, adding that she would like them to select someone who is “very pro-life,” and opposes revisiting church teachings on abortion.
While bucking some trends, Francis remained committed to church stances on abortion, calling it “homicide.” However, he did write in 2016 to forgive people for what the church viewed as the sin of abortion.
The 2024 Pew Research survey found that a majority (59%) of people who opposed social reforms in the church attended Mass at least once a week. In contrast, a majority (56%) of people in favor of changes to church policies said they seldom, if ever, attended church.
Wil Tyrrell, a Franciscan friar who left the order in 2019 and now teaches religion at a private Catholic high school in New Orleans, said no matter who the next pope is, they will need to be able to guide the church’s different factions through these confusing times.
“I think they need a moderate who can understand the complexity of the times,” Tyrrell said. “In the age of social media, there is true and false and the difficulty is discerning which is which.”
Church’s sexual abuse scandal remains front of mind
Others who spoke to the USA TODAY Network were quick to point out areas where they believe Francis fell short – and where they hope a new pope can do better.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), an advocacy group for survivors of church sexual abuse, urged the church to ensure that the next pope has never been connected to covering up sexual abuse, whether it be in individual churches or more broadly. It also demanded that the next pope institute a “zero tolerance law for sexual abuse.”
Francis’ papacy was marked by his struggle to restore credibility to a Church rattled to its core by clergy sexual abuse scandals, even though the overwhelming part of the crimes took place before his election.
He took steps to address the church’s sexual abuse scandal, including creating a Vatican summit on child protection. He created a rule requiring clergy to report sexual abuse to the church but made no police reporting requirement.
SNAP argues that those rules don’t go far enough.
“A month from today, we don’t want any other survivor to wake up and realize that someone who chose to protect their abuser is the next leader of the Catholic Church,” said Sarah Pearson, the organization’s spokesperson.
During a 2018 trip to Ireland – the ground zero of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse crisis – Francis himself recognized failures among the church’s leaders.
“The failure of ecclesiastical authorities — bishops, religious superiors, priests and others — to adequately address these repugnant crimes has rightly given rise to outrage, and remains a source of pain and shame for the Catholic community,” he said in a speech to Irish government authorities. “I myself share these sentiments.”
Contributing: Eduardo Cuevas, Julia Gomez, Jeanine Santucci, Doug Stanglin Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY; Reuters
