4 contenders to become the next pope
2. Matteo Zuppi
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi currently leads the Archdiocese of Bologna in Italy. He was elevated to the title of cardinal by Francis in 2019. Schmalz views the 69-year-old Zuppi, like Tagle, as a friend of the late pontiff who is "relatively speaking, progressive."
If elected, Zuppi would become the first Italian pope since Pope John Paul I's papacy ended in 1978, just one month after he assumed the position. Before the election of Pope St. John Paul II in 1978, the Catholic Church was headed by an Italian pope for centuries.
While Zuppi has spoken out against ordaining females as deacons, he has expressed support for offering blessings to same-sex couples. He praised the 2023 document permitting priests to allow blessings for same-sex couples for exemplifying "the loving gaze of the Church for all of God's children without undermining the teachings of the Magisterium." More than a year before the document was published, Zuppi reportedly permitted a same-sex blessing to take place in his archdiocese.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Regarding priestly celibacy, Zuppi identified the teaching as a "discipline that can be changed." He noted that "the priests of the Byzantine rite communities, but linked to Rome, are already there," highlighting how some priests in Ukraine and Romania are married.
Although Zuppi has celebrated the Traditional Latin Mass in the past, he defended the directive placing restrictions on it as one "that the Pope thought was useful, and is to be applied with great awareness and with great responsibility." Regarding the church's teaching on contraception, Zuppi stated that theologians could revisit the matter and "go further" with "creative fidelity."
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
