New York Post Names Cardinal Mario Grech As Potential Pope Successor
Gozitan Cardinal Mario Grech has been named by the New York Post as a potential successor to Pope Francis.
Following the 88-year-old pontiff’s diagnosis with double pneumonia, discussions have already started about his potential successor as leader of the Catholic Church.
The New York Post published a list of eight potential candidates to succeed the Pope, with Grech’s name among them.
“The current secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, Mario Grech is considered a potential moderate successor of Pope Francis,” the newspaper wrote.
“He has previously spoken of the necessity to reach out to those who are ostracised from the Church due to their sexuality or marital status. In a 2014 speech given at the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Grech highlighted the Church’s need to maintain continuity of teaching while allowing for creativity in the methodology of speaking to the people.”
Grech previously served as Bishop of Gozo from 2005 to 2019 and Pro-Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops from 2019 to 2020. He was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2020.
Although he has been named as papabili in the past, he has played down these rumours, telling TVM last month that those who enter the papal conclave with an expressed desire to become Pope tend to exit as a Cardinal.
“This is lobbying, positive or negative, which is intended to harm the Church,” he said of these rumours. “I don’t like these comments – they are out of tune and they’re non-Christian.”
Cover photo: Left: Cardinal Mario Grech (Photo: TVM), Right: Pope Francis
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