(Crux. John L. Allen Jr.).
Were you to ask veteran Vatican-watchers to name the six most important prelates in the Catholic Church today beyond the pope himself, you’d probably get a fairly representative sampling of leading papabili, meaning perceived candidates to be the next pope.
The list probably would include Cardinals Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, president of the ultra-influential Italian bishops’ conference; Pietro Parolin, the pontiff’s Secretary of State; Péter Erdő of Budapest, by consensus the foremost conservative opposition candidate; and so on, with the rundown composed entirely of hierarchs seen as in contention for the top job.